Turning Tables
by HawkEye2013
Summary: Arizona and Callie are best friends until one of them dropped the "L" word and the other didn't feel the same way. What happens years after when fate intervenes.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: My apologies if this updates come in a little slow, it was a bright idea by a reader and I had to start it immediately…so I might take pauses mid-update…but the updates won't stop all the together.

QOTS: The best relationships are built on love and understanding partners, but the greatest relationships are built from friendship.

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**THE INCINDENT**

Funny how moments we never thought might define us end up being the times we never forget, the things we never said would scare us hold the knife to our soul, and the things we pretend not to care about occupy a very large space in our minds… the past; oh, sometimes we wish we could forget but what happens when fate puts you back in that spot you ran away from years ago.

Fate; you can try to avoid it, stop it—you can only do everything in your power to slow it down, delay it, but it is inevitable. Sometimes it pops up and ruins all the made up plans and expectations. The lucky ones are happy it happened and the unlucky ones just embrace their **fate…**

Callie and Arizona had been friends since time could remember; they were two peas in a pod, practically inseparable…Arizona was the life of the party and Callie was more reserved and liked to watch her friend own the room with her positive energy and witty retorts and dimpled charm that just couldn't go unnoticed, she was brilliant and flare of admiration by almost everyone who laid eyes on the blonde, blue-eyed, smart beauty but mostly are targeted female audience. Arizona knew how to have her fun and also she knew when it was time to make the books count, she could do beer shots upside down and still make it in time for an early class; she was gifted at separating both without hurting her academics in any. Callie was brilliant but shy and quiet; she preferred to bob to the music and watch Arizona do something wild and occasionally wait for Arizona to look back and dare her to come along, but Callie lived a little behind the curtains of the social theatrics; their difference made their friendship something to cherish and their mutual brilliance made it easy for them to space through college like it was a drive through.

There's a certain attraction that starts to spark up between friends that spend almost every waking moment together, finishing each other's sentences; starts off with the way she smiles, her eyes when she stares at her, the way she packs her hair in a messy bun when she takes her night tea, the way her lips arch when she smiles, that serious look she has on when she's trying to get a hard topic down, when seeing her makes her perk up from any mood; the little things Callie never noticed became her most favorite things about Arizona.

Then there's a push to let that feeling be known, that glint of hope that it's mutual—and when it isn't it sometimes makes a friendship stronger or breaks it.

Callie had kept her feelings dormant for months to be completely sure she wasn't just feeling something new because they had their defining exam in a week and she might not see Arizona so much in that time or the time after when she leaves for Boston, and Callie goes home to Miami – all they had was the square vision of the computer screen and every other route the internet had to offer.

They sat in the library that night to study like they did every night, Arizona had her eyebrows furrowed and face deep into her textbooks and Callie couldn't help but stare, "Hey, can we get a drink later? I'm done with this chapter, Mafreichy's exam has nothing on me" Callie tried to make everything casual

"You're such a geek—yes please I could use some after all this brain storming" Arizona smiled back never noticing the stares and Callie's quick look ways when she looked up from her textbook to glance at her, "You're buying!"

"It's probably going to be the last pitcher of alcohol we're going to get served before finals so I'm buying you the whole bar" Callie joked

"Suddenly this book is less appealing, I was thinking of inviting Erica the snub from down the hall but I really can't find her number wrote it down somewhere" Arizona started flipping through her notepads

Callie remembered seeing the number in her notepad but didn't want anything ruining her chance to say something, "I'm sure Erica the jerk can find another outing to crash—this is just us"

"Sounds perfect already—Calliope the way you keep sliding alcohol and pizza into the conversation in between our study for finals I'm starting to think you're trying to sabotage" Arizona said in-between what seemed like a cross between a chuckle and a smile

"Oh, Robbins you're totally finding me out…get your ass up we need a break" her mega watt smile was out for the occasion

"Mafriechy can kiss my ass till tomorrow…then no more breaks—straight up study buddy rules Torres!" Arizona grabbed her books and Callie by her jacket and they were out of the library for their **break**

They had their usual booth and their regular order it felt like a normal night to both of them but Callie felt it was about to change for the best but it really didn't have the turn out she could have hoped for, halfway into their break Callie decided that she had the Dutch courage to say it.

"This is finals Arizona and you know how much I hate these kinds of moments" Callie decided to warm into the conversation

"Going home and being apart…hey! We always find a way to make the best of it and if Miami gets too hot you can always make the trip to Boston, you know Barbara is always happy to have you around" Arizona said completely oblivious of the point Callie was trying to put forward

"I know—I know that, but this time I really want to go home with a different feeling about everything with us" Callie continued, obviously fear stricken but determined to tell Arizona how she felt

"What do you mean?" Arizona said with a mouthful of pizza which just made Callie smile

"This whole time just made me value us and things we do together a little more than I used to and the fact that this might actually be the longest time we would spend apart just makes me want to make things more important" Callie said

"Okay, Callie are you purposely being vague?—I really don't understand what's going on here" she took another bite of her pizza

"Being away from everything and you for so long just makes me realize that I can't do it" Callie said gathering the words for the grand finale, "I just…I love you Arizona"

Arizona's grin became wide which made Callie so happy, "I love you too Callie"

"You actually do?" Callie asked again just to be extremely sure she wasn't misunderstanding, which she was

"Of course…I mean we have been friends since freshman year—you're my best friend and yes I love my best friend" Arizona explained herself in detail, making sure not to leave the 'friend' in her reply out

"No…I mean…" she took a deep breath and saw the panicking stare on Arizona's face like she knew what she was about to say but couldn't stop it, "I mean…I am **in** love with you"

Arizona's mouth agape and her face in completely shock, in that moment Arizona's mind started racing and she started feeling self-conscious and awkward, she didn't know the words to make this go back to normal but she could try "Callie…uhmm… I am overwhelmed about all this…this is big and surprising and frankly unexpected; I really don't know what to say I'm flattered that you feel this way about me but…over the years I've come to love you as a friend, someone I can relate to not…not in that way Callie, not the way that you think that this would…I'm sorry I don't know how so say this…?" Arizona obviously caught off guard about everything became uneasy and uncomfortable

"Wow—I really didn't see that coming, I guess I thought that—felt that after everything that we have been through together we felt the same way about each other…and I didn't say anything because I felt it could wait till after finals but I couldn't hold how I felt" Callie explained further hoping that would make the bandage a little less painful when Arizona rips it

"Callie, you're my friend and we talk about everything…crushes and dates, that's who, I…. that's the relationship I'm… I think" Arizona that could recite the entire medical textbook by heart in 2 breaths was out of words, that wasn't a good sign, "maybe there was time when I might have felt something but our friendship was all that mattered, and you've always been this person I could not be a vault to, someone I could tell everything I was feeling and this isn't just it…a friend is all I have always seen you as, and it's one of the reasons why we are still really close" Arizona said

Callie feeling silly for even saying anything kept staring at the half eaten pizza lying on the table between them because at that point they both couldn't maintain eye contact, the conversation had become weird and now Callie had to go for the defense mechanism, "I have to respect that I guess… I guess I thought that—well, doesn't really matter what I thought you don't feel the same way so…" Arizona seeing the way this conversation was going tried to make a quick move to salvage it

"It's not like I don't feel the same way…I just don't feel it right now" Arizona said

"Don't try to console me to make me feel better…just don't" the table went quiet for a long period of time with either one of them knowing how exactly to pick up from that point, then Callie's phone rang, "saved by the ring…huh?"

Arizona forced a smile; "You should answer that" Callie got up and walked into the bathroom for a less crowded noise.

Arizona already started feeling weird about everything decided it was best to just go home and let Callie sort everything out, she just couldn't deal with everything that night; so Arizona left the booth and left Callie no hint where she had gone, leaving her clueless and hurt.

Arizona took a long walk down the campus lanes wondering, thinking and just hoping that this wasn't the end of their perfect friendship; they had been friends since freshman year and now they were graduating in a year and weeks from their finals and she had to drop a news this huge on her…Arizona was right, it was overwhelming and she was still trying hard to take it all in. she decided to do the best thing when she couldn't think and that was to run, it was late but she just needed to run and think and then walk back to try and fix everything—which she wasn't sure was broken but 'fix' was all she could use.

She walked back to their apartment building and she knew Callie all too well, after what she perceived as rejection, then she would shift into avoidance which meant she wasn't going to be back at their apartment till later that night when she was sure she wouldn't bump into Arizona, just as Arizona was walking down passage that led to her room she ran into Erica just about to enter her apartment,

"Hey…finals really kicking our asses hard huh?" she noticed the indifferent she got from the blonde who practically cheered when the words 'finals' was spoken, "are you okay?"

"I don't know Erica…I really don't know if I am okay" Arizona fumbled with her key a couple times which kicked Erica's gossip reflexes into overdrive

"You can tell me you know? Psychology major here—maybe I can offer words, I'm a vault!" Erica played the sweet and charming neighbor card just right to get a slightly tipsy Arizona to utter the words that was bothering her, she invited her in

"It's just a little thing me and Callie had at the bar a couple minutes ago and I really don't know…" Arizona chuckled lightly, "…don't know what that was about"

"Well, what happened? Something bad?" Erica asked staring at her with a sense of fake care to urge her down that lane of sharing

"She said she loves and I don't…I think I'm still a little affected by the alcohol I really shouldn't even talk about it Erica…never mind!" Arizona got up from the couch and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, "thanks for listening or whatever…goodnight"

Erica gave a disappointed nod and walked out of the apartment with a grin, a couple steps into her apartment and she woke up her roommate, "Jennie! Jennie! Wake up you idiot" Erica tapped her sleeping roommate

"What!" the cranky blonde rose up from her bed, "What?!"

"You owe me 50 bucks, I told you Callie had the hots for Arizona—apparently she told her and she shut her down, pay up monkey thumbs!" Erica said feeling proud about her prediction

"Damn, that's really good—I have to blog this…" she grabbed her laptop and started going wild

"I don't care…just pay up Jennie!"

#####

Callie sat down at the bar for hours just waiting till Arizona would fall asleep then she would be on her way to the apartment, but hours had passed and she had been getting weird stares from certain people at the bar but she didn't seem to care; she had a little war of her own going on in her mind so she kept her head down and kept tearing at the edges of the square paper board that held the now cold pizza open on the table. When George sat down opposite her and said,

"You smell really nice tonight Callie, what's that perfume you're wearing tonight? Rejection by Robbins?" his joke was obviously amusing to his posse too seeing as they all shared the laugh, leaving Callie utterly clueless to everything

"What the hell are you going on about?" Callie asked

"You should read Jennie's blog, pretty exposing stuff" he guzzled down the last of his beer and walked off to join his friends

Callie took a peek at the said blog and got a jaw dropping eye opener, her and Arizona's private matter had suddenly become less private than they had wanted, feeling betrayed, angry and hurt Callie stormed out of the bar and to the apartment where she got more stares from other girls just waiting for the full gossip. She walked into the apartment to find Arizona curled up on the couch covered in Callie's jacket that she left on the couch that morning, she stormed into her room and packed a night bag, placed it in the doorway and walked over to the couch and nudged Arizona sharply,

"OW! What the hell?" Arizona stood up still foggy from alcohol after-effect and the sleep haze

"I wanted to have a mature conversation and just try as hell to unring the bell, but thanks Arizona I really needed the humiliation" Callie said trying to stay calm but she was failing miserably

"What the hell are you talking about" Arizona was clueless to everything that was going on, and the scene right in front of her was a new one

"Play dumb Arizona…really works for you, I meant what I said and the fact that you chose to make a joke out of everything…that's low Arizona, I didn't expect that from you" Callie said trying not to scream but she couldn't keep her tears in check

"Callie! Callie what the hell are you talking about?" Arizona asked the brunette pleadingly

"Read Jennie's blog…like you don't already know" Callie grabbed her night bag and stepped out of the apartment, Callie walked out of the apartment and those were the last words she ever said to Arizona, "did I ever do anything that was this cruel to you?"

"CALLIE! What the hell is going on?" she stood oblivious and tried to understand exactly what had just happened, she pulled her laptop and opened Jennie's blog

They studied for finals apart and at the end of the exam when everyone yelled for freedom and they were ready to jump to wherever it was they were headed for their break from studying, Arizona searched for Callie in the crowd but that raven black hair and super mega watt smile was nowhere to be found—she searched their halls but Callie was nowhere to be found, she called her several times but Callie was too stubborn to listen to anything Arizona had to say to she never picked up. She hadn't seen her best friend in 10 days, barring the occasional glances they gave each other in the hall when the finals were going on. Callie took a plane home to Miami and said nothing to Arizona, she never returned for the last year then graduation—she never came back and Arizona knew that whatever she might have done unconsciously had hurt Callie more than anything. After months of trying to reach her and make amends. First week back in school Arizona put up a 'WELCOME HOME' banner in their apartment, she thought Callie was stalling for a week so she woke up to put up the banner every morning hoping Callie would walk in on it while she was in class and smile but after 3weeks she took it down. Arizona finally let go and they grew apart and just never spoke again. Calliope Torres used to be a name she heard every day but then was reduced to a name she heard twice in a month and later fragments of what Callie looked like was left in Arizona's memory; she had pictures and mementos of places they went and things they collected together but she wanted her best friend back but Callie wasn't reaching a hand over the rift, complete silence on her path. After graduation Arizona took a plane to Miami but Callie wasn't home, she heard from Aria that she had transferred to New York for the rest of the year and wasn't coming back; Arizona played with the idea of going to see her but Callie made no single effort and so she gave up completely…guess sometimes the smallest things break a bond.

**8 YEARS LATER** **(PRESENT DAY)**

Providence, Rhode Island

It was a cloudy afternoon in providence as always, a certain brunette sat down at a bar stool; clad in a skin tight, knee length animal print skirt leaving the tanned flesh from her knees to her beautifully glistened heels, exposed and appealing—she had a blazer over her shirt; she was twirling the tip of her raven black curls round her fingers, it was a typical afternoon she had her time off work and needed some adult contact that didn't involve stitching them up or wheeling them into surgery. She sat there with her lunch and her face deeply buried in a medical journal when she heard a deep voice,

"This sit taken?" the nice looking man asked with a warm smile

"Yes, actually it is" the brunette answered without turning away from her journal

"By whom?" the man tried again, this time with an attempt to sit down

"Anybody but you" she replied with a polite smile

"Feisty, I like that—I'm Aaron" he sat down beside the brunette and offered her a hand to shake

"Can you be Aaron somewhere else in the bar?" the brunette finally tearing her attention away from the book in her hand and faces the man

"Wow! You are a negative one" just as he got up to leave, they heard a woman scream from the other end of the bar and a man was on the ground holding his chest

"Uhhm Aaron run to the kitchen and ask for ice and their medical kit box…NOW!" the brunette was off her stool and to the man's side instantly where the other people in the bar had already started to surround him, "okay people back up! Give him some room"

"Hey, Hawaii Barbie what do you think you're doing?" asked the waiter already on the phone with hospital

"The closest hospital to this place is 10minutes I know that cause I'm a doctor there, he has cardiac tamponade and if I don't drain his pericardial sack his heart will stop—can anyone get me an 18 gauge needle?" they all stared at her like she had grown a third eye and she was wasting time while his sack was threatening to burst

"The ice, the ice!" the man rushed over to the brunette

"Place that on his ankle, and get me some space please" Callie said while she started unbuttoning the man's shirt

"Okay folks, you heard the lady give her some space—move back people, is that okay?" the oddly calm brunette smiled and gave a sharp nod

She looked around the crowd and peeked at her name tag, she pulled out her car keys, "Hey, lazy eyes Lucy run to the red SUV up front and grab the red medic bag in the back" she tossed the keys

The girl was back within a heartbeat, after she had elevated this head, she pulled open the bag and pulled out a needle—wasn't long enough but it was good enough to relieve some pressure. She inserted the needle in and kept whispering, "Please don't puncture the heart, please don't puncture the heart" after draining the fluid the man's eyes started to gradually open and the united sighs from the crowd was loud enough to fill the bar

A loud round of applause erupted all over the bar, "paramedics are here"

"What happened?" the paramedic asked the brunette hunching over the man gradually coming around

"Uhmm…cardiac tamponade—take him to Providence General and ask for Doctor Hayden, tell him Doctor Calliope Torres did a pericardiocentesis" the man was moved to a gurney and wheeled out of the bar

"Bossy, Beautiful and Brilliant— the trifecta, I'm in love already" the nice looking man that tried to sit beside Callie initially said in the parking lot as she was about to get into her car

"You're not my type" Callie replied

"Yeah? And what is that?" he replied

"The type with boobs" Callie flashed him a smile and entered her car and was after the ambulance back to the hospital.

Callie walked in through the ER, and ran into Isobel Stevens; their friendship was the most unusual anyone had ever seen, they lived together and arrived together but acted totally professional on hospital grounds,

"Heard you did a pericardiocentesis on a man on a dirty bar floor like some badass GI Jane" Izzie said

"Yes, pretty overwhelming—now I see why you're flirting with Cardio, a rush!" Callie said with a smile knowing how much it would hurt her seeing as she had been pushed around cardio in months, "wish you were there Cristina would love that kind of thing"

"I hate you and your stupid pericardiocentesis and your fancy insane ortho tube cartilage—you all suck!" she walked away from her gloating friend

_**Dr. Torres to the chief's office, Dr. Torres to the chief's office**_

The lady over the intercom called out twice and she made her walk over the halls into his office, a man in his mid 50s, in a white shirt with a sweater vest over it he looked up and smiled,

"You keep surprising me at every turn Torres, a pericardiocentesis? Not something an ortho attending should be doing" Colin said

"I live with Izzie, I'm sure I can decannulate a heart if you let me" they shared a laugh

"Stick to the bones Torres it's where I need you best, to the real reason I called you here—the funding for the research came through" he said with a straight face "I have decided that I'm giving it to Neuro"

"You have got to be kidding me with this Colin—I publish more, I do double the research and they get extra funding for research? Last year it was Cardio, and the year before it was Peds, what the hell happened to ortho?" Callie snapped back at him

"It's nothing personal Torres, its just business –his department generates more income yearly and his fancy research brings the hospital more publicity" Colin said plainly with no scrap of emotion

"It's been 2years since my research has been put on the back burner Colin and each year it's an excuse, at least this year you came out clear" Callie was starting to lose her patience

"You had a brilliant presentation, you have the determination, frankly I think it would be good but it just doesn't pull the award committee like his does" Colin said rising to his feet as he walked to his bookcase and pulled out a framed article and handed it over to Callie, "Like I said, it's nothing personal—it's about the hospital looking good and not just one doctor"

Callie looked at the article of their Cardiothoracic Surgeon being award a prestigious award, "So you don't think my cartilage research doesn't have the pull…what am I supposed to do sprinkle glitter all over it?" she threw the framed article on his desk

"Wait your turn…wait!" Colin said

Callie smiled to herself and shook her head, "I single handedly resurrected that department when I came here from New York and now my research isn't important? Screw you Colin… I quit!" she rose to her feet, "find another workaholic to carry the cross"

"Come on Torres let's not make this more than what it is…sleep on it and you'll realize you're being absurd" Colin stood up and this time the panic that Callie might actually be serious on his face, "Give me a year Torres and you'll have you funding"

"I'm done waiting… I freaking quit!" Callie walked out of his office angry and frustrated, made her way down to her office and packed up her desk and everything, she walked out of the place she had worked for years—she walked out of the building with some of her files, looked back, "Oh shit, I just made a huge mistake—I'm jobless"

Callie drove round Providence for a couple minutes contemplating how she would grovel for her job back or just walk away, she finally decided that it was a thought for another day she drove to Mark's studio, "Hey"

"You're here early, lunch break?" Mark asked

"I quit…still can't believe I just said that—I quit my job Mark, and now I am jobless, I have never been jobless before" Callie said still thinking she made a huge mistake

"Take a breather, tell me what happened!" Mark turned to look at his friend with concern on his face

"Mark I am a surgeon, what am I going to do with free time? I don't even know what that is—I mean, what is that, maybe I acted too quickly when he denied my funding—I just need to apologize right?" Callie finally letting the fear and partial regret out

"He denied your funding again? This isn't impulsive doing, you have wanted to do this since the first time he denied you that" Mark continued to wipe down his lenses

"You're an artiste, you people take pictures of people and places and see magic in it—what I do is different" Callie said

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah you save lives and build bones from ivory…whatever! But it still remains that you have no funding for your project" Mark mocked, "just talk to Carlos and maybe you can work in the foundation for a while till you can find another hospital"

"I spoke to him and he said he has other plans—he said he knows a man on the board; Richard Webster or something similar said he's fascinated with my lecture on cartilage" Callie shrugged like she wasn't a bit concerned with the fact that someone was fascinated by her work

"Well, that's amazing is the hospital also in Providence?" Mark asked with a little worry in his voice, obviously not ready to lose his best friend

"God I hope so…don't think I can move away from here right now" Callie took off her shoes and started making herself comfortable in his studio

"I hope so too don't think I can watch you leave, when are you meeting him?"

"Tonight, we're having dinner"

#####

"SEATTLE!?" Callie yelled at Carlos from across the table, she slammed her wine on the table furious

"Calliope mind your manners people are starting to stare, this hospital is one of the best and they are willing to fund your research" Carlos said finishing up his meal

"I can't leave, Providence is my home—I have lived here since after New York and that's a really long time to just pack up in a short while" Carlos fired back

"Calliope Iphigenia Torres! This is your career I am worried about and not how long you've spent here—if it was up to me you'd be behind a desk at the foundation in Miami" Carlos replied her with equal anger but Callie wasn't backing down

"You should have said no! I am not going away from here papa—my whole life is here, I will grovel and get my job back" Callie said

"You will do no such nonsense, you're a Torres we don't go around begging for things, you get to run your own program and work on your research in Seattle…you're taking the job" Carlos said

"Papa I am not …" Carlos interrupted her protest

"You are taking the job and that's final!—pack your bags and be on your way to Seattle in a week" Carlos said

"Why a week?" Callie asked

"They have been without an the head of their Ortho department for a while and they were desperate and your resume fit the bill" Carlos replied her

"So I'm going to work in a rundown hospital somewhere looking for an Ortho attending… just swell" Callie began whining

"Stop your whining Calliope, I for one would think you would be happy to take charge for once, things got tough in college you transferred, things got too hard in New York you fled, you didn't get your way in Providence so you quit—be an adult and stick to something!"Carlos signaled for the check, "Get it together Calliope, this is my last help and this is a wonderful one"

Callie sat in that spot stunned at the words that just flew out of her father, the reality of her rap sheet started sinking in, "Okay, I will go"

"Good...this could be the best experience you would ever have" Carlos paid off the check and kissed her head, "please mija, and stick to this one"

####

**1 WEEK LATER**

Callie had all her furniture in storage and her apartment was stripped bare; she finalized her contract with Colin, and took most of her case files, her and Mark spend a whole day taking pictures and framing memories for her to take with her—they sat in the empty living room with her bags at the door,

"I hate you for leaving me here Torres, who am I going to talk t about girls? First Derek and now you?" he said with sincere hurt in his voice, his friend was moving far away and he only had a week to say goodbye

"You slept with his wife I don't think you gave him much of a choice—and I hate me too for leaving" she looked around the apartment again, " Gosh, I love this house, I'm going to miss it"

"Lexie and I are in a good place, what if I screw it all up?" Mark asked

"Mark! You're clinging, we both need to be without each other for a while—Carlos made me out to be a quitter and I want to prove him wrong somehow" she looked at her watch and back at Mark who wasn't ready to let her go, " I hate to go, my flight is in a couple hours"

"You call me, text me, Skype me, tweet me or whatever that thing is—don't lose contact with me okay?" Mark said pulling his friend into a rib crushing hug, he pulled back and placed a kiss on her temple, "I'll miss you!"

Callie started feeling the tears pool in her eyes and she really didn't want to cry before leaving her best friend she had known and leaned on for years, "Bye Mark"

She kept tapping her leg in the cab, the thoughts that she was leaving her entire life for a new one still wasn't something that had completely sunk in yet, she had spent years in Providence and now she was leaving for somewhere else, somewhere new with new faces and new things—she wasn't sure she wanted something new just yet, Callie got down at the airport with her luggage in hand

"Seattle here I come"

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This is an early chapter so if this is a story that you guys don't like let me know so I can make a change, and all opinions are welcomed!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: My apologies if this updates come in a little slow, it was a bright idea by a reader and I had to start it immediately…so I might take pauses mid-update…but the updates won't stop all the together.

QOTS: The best relationships are built on love and understanding partners, but the greatest relationships are built from friendship.

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Chapter 2

Owen Hunt stood in a crowded board room with his tie and cooperate wear covered underneath that white lab coat, he had called a meeting a little earlier than usual because each department had been having their complaints about something, "Morning everyone, I know it's a little early but can we please try to get settled"

"Get to the point Owen, I have surgeries back to back to get to" a snarky comment flew out a this little woman sitting at the table

Owen cleared his throat and continued, "The board has listened to most of your complaints and it's been tabled"

"Are they doing something about my robotics lab?"A tall dark man sounded from the end of the table with his dark green eyes stationed on Owen

"Jackson it is being tabled, the board will let you know when your personal projects take precedence" Owen finished off his announcement and adjusted his tie that could be mistaken for a noose seeing as how tightly knot it was

"What about the approval of my trial? I need to know if I would put in an application to FDA" a snarky voice radiated from a petite woman sitting at the table; Miranda Bailey wasn't a fan of Owen ever since he became chief and she did nothing to hide it

"Uhmm…the board is reviewing all the applications and your errm…" he started fiddling with his tie and took another breath, "it's all under advisement "

"Do you have an actual answer? Or are you just going to stand there and be indistinct" Bailey said with a hint of spite in her voice

"Okay, people can we just try not to blame the man here—lets all just be happy this facility still runs, how about we get back to work?" a certain blonde rose up from her sit and voiced out her support for Owen

The hospital had been running without an orthopedic superior for months which meant that most of their emergent cases had been sent to a more suitable facility for medical attention, which in turn made them drop from glory—Derek and his trial scandal also took a bat to the hospital's reputation, and their concealment of bankruptcy that led to the merging of two hospitals has done a number on the hospital, which caused their decline from opulence. Richard Webber sought for help from an old friend; Carlos Torres who was generous enough to help save face at their time of need but not without asking for a favor in return in the future which is why it was so easy for Callie to get exactly what she wanted.

"That's what happens when you put a trauma guy in charge" Bailey said maintaining eye contact with Owen to show her obvious distaste in his new position

The room was empty except for Arizona who sat there watching the bitten man sink into a chair running his fingers over his throbbing temples repeatedly, "I'm failing Arizona, I don't even know what I am doing" his voice was tired and strained

"This is new and you're doing your best, I thought the hospital was fine so why aren't they getting their labs and approvals" Arizona asked and reached for Owen's tie, "lose this and you'll be fine"

"The hospital is fine, the new Orthopedic surgeon is high maintenance, she's from a number 3 slot hospital and coming to a number 7—so she has some demands the board has to meet first, and her resume is remarkable, haven't seen something that good in a while" Owen pulled off his tie and stuffed it in his side pocket

"That reminds me; the stand-in orthopedic attending, Lauren Boswell said she's pulling toward amputation for my ballerina kid's leg, how do I tell a kid who has based his dreams on his legs that I'm taking one of it off?" empathy in her voice

"Talk to the new Ortho attending, she's not on duty yet but she can take a look—see if she has a different opinion" Arizona nodded and shared a dimpled smile, she placed a supported hand on his shoulder and leaned in

"You're doing great Owen, Webber wouldn't have picked you if he didn't think that you could handle it…he didn't pick Derek, or bring in a ringer, he picked you" Arizona patted his shoulder and she was off to save the tiny humans out there waiting for her super magic smile therapy

Owen had gained the chief chair a month ago when Webber had helped save the hospital and now a fresh new chip on his shoulder thanks to Arizona, Webber saving the hospital was the biggest thing he could have done for **his **hospital, therefore, buying himself a seat on the hospital board. He felt clueless at every circumstance because the closest he had been to leadership was in the sandpit with his platoon, but at least they had his back unlike the unsupportive glares and murmurs he had gotten so far, he sighed and ran his muscular hands through his hair and down his face…at least in the war front he could shoot someone that was a probable menace, that kind of act was illegal here.

"Chief?" Patricia the chief's right hand called from the conference room door with stacks of files in hand, leaning against the doorframe "She's here in your office"

"Thank you Patricia" he rose to his height and made his way to his office to meet the Orthopedic attending who had their board members buzzing none stop. "Dr. Calliope Torres?" he called from his door staring at the brunette in his office

Callie had a mental conversation of how this would go, she had seen bossy, worked with bossy and lived with bossy so she wouldn't want to portray herself as a person that was weak, she needed to show she had leadership potential, she was tough and she needed to start that by showing the chief, "Yes, Callie! Callie Torres is fine"

He nodded and sat parallel to her flipping through her resume the board had faxed him, "You worked in New York under Andrew Perkins, what happened to that?—he's a Harper Avery winner" he raised his eyebrows waiting for an answer

"I needed a change of pace" Callie replied sharply with a shrug

"Providence? The Orthopedic department over there is a breath shy of perfection—what made you leave?" Owen asked again hoping for something less quick and detached from his newest employee

"It was a wonderful program it just wasn't the right fit" Callie mentally laughing at herself, remember the moments she was close to tears about losing her perfect job, and how close she was to kissing Colin's feet for her job back

Callie got her orientation spiel from the man and asked her for a quick favor which involved an off-duty consults, and a bunch of other doctors, and a bone tumor—the only part Callie heard. She walked over to HR and got her orientation package.

"This is your passkey; this is your ID card, your orientation package and DVDs on the healthcare system, the hospital security system codes…" Callie interrupted the tatty looking lady, who had rather nonchalant attitude and chewed her gum really loud

"Security system codes? What are those?" Callie asked flipping through the brochure, she had done this before in Providence but then she had Colin holding her by the arm, treated her like she had the sun orbiting around her

"Code red means there's a fire, code black means a bomb and code blue means someone is drowning" the lazy looking lady kept ranting with the gum in her mouth

"Drowning in a hospital? Doesn't that mean someone is dying?" Callie replied

"Oh look we have a smart one, here's everything and make sure you don't get lost, HR doesn't cover hospital misplaced employees" she fell back in her chair popping the gum in her mouth and face deep in her magazine

"Thank you, you were extremely helpful" Callie spewed sarcastically and walked away out of the office, she had her schedule which officially has her dated for the day after, she had to get scrubs and her lab coat but she figured she'd do that the day after—but first she had to find the head of Pediatrics. Callie steady trying to navigate through the labyrinth of the SGMW halls ran into Owen for the second time that day.

"Officially I am welcoming you to the hospital, I can see you've gotten all you need" Owen said pointing to the stack of folders she was holding, and her passkey carelessly hanging around her neck

"The HR lady is a raw of sunshine" Callie said sardonically with a quirky smile

"Don't be modest, she's a hag at best—but we didn't hire her that way though, she was much younger and nicer" Callie giggled at his words, "So I take it you're on your way out?"

"Pediatrics for a consult, I just can't find my way there—keep getting turned around" Owen looked at his watch and saw that he couldn't conduct the tour himself seeing as he had a meeting with some nurses, he saw a curly haired brunette sniffing a muffin across the catwalk and smiled

"Her! She's a fourth year resident hardcore into cardio but she's the resident on the case right now, she'll take you…" Owen and Callie exchanged a smile and he was off to somewhere else in the huge hospital

Callie walked up to the petite brunette with her messy hair, hunched posture and poor taste in day old pastry, "Hey…can I get directi…" Callie finally decided to look up at the person she had approached and couldn't help but gasp, "Yang?!"

"Torres? Are you kidding me right now—are you the temp attending from Seattle Pres?" while Cristina was badgering her with the 20 questions Callie reached for her passkey and ID card and showed her

"No way! You're the new attending?" Cristina asked still shock over the fact that she was seeing Callie right there in front of her, she hadn't seen Callie since her and Burke crashed halfway to the alter making Cristina transfer from Providence to sunnier climes or in her case wetter climes

"Yes"

"NO!"

"Yes"

"NO WAY!"

"Shut your face, yes I am" Callie finally shut her up

"What happened to the saying that you're Providence bound" Cristina asked mockingly

"Things change—I needed a change of pace and new scenery" Callie tried her hand at a lie but her tell was right out there for Cristina to see

"You got fired didn't you?" Cristina replied her with a deadpan expression

"I quit on premature thoughts, and I got a little too hard to go back and beg" Callie swayed a little from left to right, looking down at her feet to avoid the expression resembling a stifled laughter Cristina had on her face, "So I need to find the Pediatric doctor"

"Oh, go down that hall to the left and into the elevator, go up one floor and you're there—ask the orderlies for Robbins" Cristina's pager went off

"Please don't tell me I'm getting one of those" Callie stared at the buzzing device with sheer hatred

"Only thing I miss about Providence, we didn't get saddled with one of these" she waved the offending object in the air, she walked away down the hall to where she was being paged

Callie made calculated steps to the floor, pushed open the doors and saw the walls were decorated with flowery wallpaper, cartoon figurines were on every nursing station, had this soothing smell of candy and strawberries, every poster on the walls had some cartoon character plastered all over it, and the décor was warm and inviting with different cushion colors; it was colorful, it felt a little like a portal to Narnia but except she took an elevator and this felt more like Disneyland; she knew for sure she was in the right part of the hospital wing, she walked into a room; a blonde had her arm crossed over her chest while staring at the said patient's x-ray, Callie's eyes scanned the room there was nothing but this lady with a slender physique, not a recognizable face but Callie pushed to make an introduction.

"Hello" the blonde turned sideways to the new presence at the door and smiled, she proffered her hand for a shake which Callie gladly took, "You must be the Pediatric surgeon, Miss Robbins?"

"Oh no, she just left—I'm the temp Ortho surgeon, I'm here for this case" she pointed to the x-ray being highlighted. "I'm Lauren Boswell" she gave Callie a questioning stare wondering who she was

"I'm a consulting physician on the case" Callie looked at the scans and smiled she had worked with this kind of tumor countless times, she had published articles about the treatment plan for something like that, "what is your treatment plan here?"

"I'm leaning towards an amputation, there's nothing more I can do for this kid…" Callie interrupted sharply

"Nothing more? He's a dancer—if you take his dream this young you're not just taking his leg, you're taking something deeper than that" Callie said trying to convince the blonde that there was another method this would be done without the loss of a body part

"You know what makes me a better surgeon? I don't attach sentiments to medicine—I believe there are other ways, there just isn't time to start planning and changing anything, I'm amputating the leg" she shrugged and pulled the x-rays, turned out the lights

"He can't dance on titanium artificial limb" Callie tried to work out a surgical compromise, after all they were both physicians and healers and a chance to help a boy keep his dream should be a priority but Lauren was just chronically lazy, and adamant on change or an opinion that rivaled hers.

"He should be happy he still gets to flex his knee" the blonde turned around and walked off, but the thing she didn't know about Callie was that if she had a strong feeling about a case she would do something to make it work her way.

Callie had seen her fair share of lazy surgeons who just couldn't stand to be in an OR more than required, they don't do more than they are asked and they strut around with their self proclaimed title of being the best; that was Lauren Boswell, Exhibit A

Callie walked around asking for directions back to the chief's office, she walked pass a certain blonde she was sure she hadn't seen in ages but she wasn't too sure what she saw, a lot of new faces could be playing tricks on her mind; making her find semblance by molding up familiar faces in a pool of strangers, after she had gotten lost twice she finally turned at the familiar corridor and there it was—the office she stepped out of the hours ago. She walked into the room to find Owen laughing with a blonde. This hospital seemed to be fascinated with blondes

"Sorry to interrupt, I didn't realize…" the air ran out of Callie's lungs, her eyes widened and she forgot the other words that followed that sentence when the face that belonged to the blonde was staring right back at her, she hadn't seen this particular blonde in years; normally that would warrant a hug or a warm gesture but judging from where they left things there would not be any gesture of sort.

"Oh, please come in Dr. Torres—this is our Pediatric Attending Dr. Arizona Robbins" Arizona had hoped that when she saw Callie again it would be in passing, they would run into each other at a medical seminar and force a smile each other's way, ask how they have been and leave the past buried forever but the past was standing right in front of her and the **past **looked really good in those skin tight jeans, loose red top that just seemed to accentuate her bosom, and that complementing leather jacket that just brought the whole outfit together; Owen might as well have placed a drool cup under Arizona's jaw cause she was staring with her mouth slightly open, "and this is Dr. Calliope Tor-r-es – is there something wrong?" Owen asked

In that moment Callie wanted to steal a bum tank, start a fire in it and burn the entire hospital package, and passkey, and everything, get in her car and a plane back to Providence; but she had avoided Arizona for 8 years and now she couldn't run because she promised Carlos she would stick to this, "No, nothing—nothing at all" Callie was quick on the reply avoiding Arizona's eyes

"Do you two know each other?" Arizona opened her mouth to give a reply but Callie beat her to that.

"No…no I don't think we do" Owen looked back and forth from the both of them with a questioning stare waiting for Arizona's reply, but after hearing Callie deny their past she just cleared her throat and proceeded to make her way back to her department, "Actually I need both you here, if you don't mind Dr. Robbins" Callie said plainly

Arizona sat back down, Owen stretched out his hand to offer Callie a seat, but after staring at the closeness of those seats to each other she decided to stand, "It's about the ballerina kid's case that Dr. Incompetence is working on"

"Dr…_**what?**_" Owen asked

"Lauren Boswell" Arizona said briefly to keep Owen in line with the things that Callie was saying

"Dr. Incompetence is about to hack off a leg that I can save, I have dealt with this before—and I am familiar with this stage of tumor" Callie explained herself

"What do you need?" Owen asked trying to get to the end of the conversation, "because this surgery is scheduled in an hour and unless your method can save it within then I'll suggest you let her work" he said

"It can" Callie said simply cocky of her surgical skills

"Then you have privileges…but to assist her in her work" Owen simply handed Callie a dagger and stripped Lauren bare for Callie to find her bull's-eye spot to sink the knife, with her newly crowned confidence Callie slowly walked out of Owen's office and when she noticed Arizona rise to her feet after her, she knew she couldn't duck into a sharp corner immediately she stepped out. This was a conversation she needed to have.

"So we don't know each other huh?" Arizona's sweet soft voice echoed after Callie in the corridor, Callie couldn't help but smile at the familiarity of that sweet sound—she adored that sound once, heard it every day, she turned around and couldn't help but scan Arizona to her toes, she had grown even better than before; her hair was shorter, and golden yellow, her eyes hadn't changed at all, she was so beautiful, and her feature were more defined; Callie didn't think it was possible for her to look that good but she was glad that she was wrong on that.

"I'm sorry, I…I panicked" they stared at each other for some minutes until Callie broke the eye contact "…so Dr. Robbins, Pediatrics…what ever happened to Neuro" Callie tried to make the already peeved atmosphere a little lighter by bringing up an unrelated topic

"Something about the kids I guess" she answered straight, no glimmer in her eyes or a dimpled smile, Callie gave a sharp nod and started swaying from foot to foot. "How have you been?"

"Good…been good" Callie replied, the awkwardness in the air was almost palpable

"Orthopedics huh?" Arizona tried this time

"Something about the bones" Callie said with a forced smile, "Arizona I know we have shared history, and past bigger than the hallways of this hospital but we can at least try to stomach each other, it's a big hospital lots of places to hide you won't even have to see me" Callie finished her sentence then swallowed the lump in her throat

"Same old Callie huh? Always the avoider…guess even after couple years some things just remain the same" Arizona said feeling disappointed that even after 8 years Callie would still be holding a grudge, to think this person was once the person she couldn't do without talking to, hanging out with…now it had come down to _**you won't even have to see me**_ Arizona knew she hadn't changed. Arizona turned and walked away from her.

Callie sneaked a glance at her watch and figured she needed to get things in place for the surgery Lauren was performing; if Lauren wasn't going to do the surgery her way then she wasn't going to do the surgery at all.

Callie didn't have much social capital in the hospital it was of course her very first day but people were surprisingly nice and willing to help when asked politely, and the biggest shocker of the planet had to be the fact that the girl she used to have the biggest crush on was the attending in charge of the case she was planning to rain problems on; but there was 16 years old boy with a dream and that was all that mattered to Callie, sentimental, yes but it also made her exceptional at her job.

#############

Callie had gotten everything she needed for the surgery and she scrubbed in, walked right into the OR; Callie looked up at the gallery and saw it was a full house and suddenly her plan started to feel like it had holes in it,

"Dr. Boswell, a word?" Callie said while the blonde looked over her shoulder, she didn't seem to recognize the brunette with the scrub cap and surgical mask

"I'm in the middle of a surgery can it wait?" she stretched out her hand and asked for an instrument, "Bokie…bone saw"

"I brought the alternative method for the surgery if you would just take a look, you don't have to amputate his leg" Callie said still feeling a little in a shell with the new environment and the fact that it was a crowded gallery, she really didn't want to make a scene with the intercom on

"Oh, the consulting physician—look, I really don't have time for this and I am done explaining why" she snapped back at Callie which just made everything worse, "Bone saw"

"Okay, you know what? Drop the damn bone saw and get the hell out of my OR now!" Callie said which ultimately got the attention of everyone in the OR and the gallery, Arizona furrowed her brow; this particular Callie she really didn't recognize

"Excuse me?" Lauren replied turning back to face her

"You heard me, get the hell out of my OR" Callie repeated the statement while taking a step further

Lauren turned her attention to the lot of surgeons observing in the gallery and said, "Owen what the hell is the meaning of this?" Callie's heart skipped seeing as she blindsided him with this behavior, her plan to save it wasn't exactly 100% but she knew it was better than chopping it off but this part of the plan she never shared with Owen

Owen frowned and walked to the intercom, "When my Orthopedic attending and the head of my Ortho department tells you to get the hell out of **her** OR, Dr. Boswell; get the hell out of her OR" Owen said plainly and watched the rest of the scene unfold from the glass frame

"What the hell?" Lauren stood shocked and dumbfounded at the entire thing.

"You heard him—get out" Callie finished off Owen's statement, Lauren might have not been able to see her face beneath the surgical mask but Callie definitely had a smirk

Lauren dropped the bone saw and stormed out of the OR leaving Callie to finish up the surgery, all she heard after the whole racket was, "that was badass—I really can't high 5 you cause I'm sterile, I'm Alex Karev"

"Callie Torres… you're ready for this? I'm taking the infected portion and soaking it in chemo, we're going to scrape every tumor out of this kid's leg; we could be here a while—are you down?" Callie asked the eager looking resident

"Are you kidding…let's do it" he replied

Arizona sat back and watch her best friend colleague work and her impressive technique, this wasn't the Callie she knew years ago, that Callie would have gone home when Lauren didn't listen, she would have pushed her idea but if no one listened then she would walk away, _**this definitely wasn't the Callie that she knew she was wrong, she is different.**_

After hours of watching and observing Owen couldn't help but smile at the fact that the board made a brilliant decision, the kid was wheeled into ICU and his leg was going to be perfectly fine, and he would be back to the dancing board in no time.

"He is inexperienced I said, he is new here, he barely knows the ways of the hospital I said…" Owen interrupted Bailey's words. Bailey had given Owen the worst time of his life ever since her mentor stepped down from being chief and left the hospital, but it wasn't Owen she was mad at; he was just the person sitting in the chair of the man she was angry at

"Bailey, is this going somewhere?" Owen cut her rant short hoping to get to end of the insult so he can get back to work

"I'm saying I was wrong, stepping up for our own like that today, that was very chiefly…I think you're doing fine" Bailey said already jeering like she had said too much compliments than her system could handle

"Say the first part of that statement again?" Owen said with a smile on his face

"Don't push it ginger" Bailey smiled at him and walked away, "Goodnight Hunt"

"Night Dr. Bailey" he walked down to his office and saw Torres right now the hallway, he was sure to throw her a smile and an approving nod

########

Callie was filling in her post-op notes, "Hey" she turned around and saw that blonde she swore was tugging the strings of her chest, but every time she saw her she had this skip in her breathing, "come on I want to show you something" Callie wasn't the type to say no when a beautiful blonde wants to take her somewhere so she followed her, Arizona stopped right in front of the boy's room to see his parents hugging and laughing with him, there was joy—they were so happy; his father taking pictures of his son and his mother's eyes were laced with tears, she had often seen this when she saved someone in Providence but never like this, this people were expecting their son back with one leg and a broken dream but they got the opposite. For an off duty day she felt really accomplished. "That's what you gave them and you didn't meet or see the patient but you did everything to keep his dream alive…I was wrong when I said that you didn't change, it wasn't my place to say that" Arizona was talented with subtle apologies

"No…you were right about me trying to avoid, I was leaning towards that" they shared a silence, there was a lot to be said, questions to be asked, and explanations to be made but they both wanted to let the past be the past, or at least that's what they thought that they needed, "Look, I get the history between us and I said we could try to avoid each other but we were friends once so maybe we could try being acquaintances for starters" Callie smiled

"Do you remember the summer before you…you…left when we spent that in Boston with Tim and Nick? I'd dare you to come out of your cocoon—I always thought I'd be the one to crack you out, I guess time did that already" Arizona said with a dimpled smile, Callie hadn't seen that in years and like she always remembered it was still as enchanting as it was, "You had that red tint in your hair, I miss that"

"We both grew I guess, so can we try to be friends even if our history wasn't the most smooth?" Callie asked searching into those deep blue eyes; Arizona stretched out her hand and took Callie's in hers

"Acquaintances it is… guess I will see you around then Dr. Torres"

"See you around, Dr. Robbins" they both walked the opposite direction but Callie couldn't leave the night with those plain words, "Oh, Arizona?"

The blonde turned around, "Yeah?"

"It was blue"

"What was?"

"The tint in my hair, you said it was red—it was blue, I did it to match the color of your eyes" and with that the brunette departed from the halls leaving the blonde flushed cheeks and smile, her jolly little smile was interrupted by a text

_**_ hey babe, where are you? Running late again? Expecting you soon xoxo._**_

She shook her head to rid herself on the smile plastered on it, she walked to get changed and she was out of the building.

Callie stepped out the building after a long winded conversation with Owen about her action of the day, he gave her the other day off to get settled properly into Seattle; she walked out of the building and turned around to smile at the building as a whole, she stared at the building from the upfront parking lot and she didn't feel like she wanted to leave this pace just yet, Owen had told her "welcome to the Seattle Grace Mercy West family" he had called it a family, in Providence it was every man for himself, none of them ever did anything for the other for the sake of being nice, if there wasn't a reward after a favor then it wasn't something to be done, they existed together in the hospital but they were far from friendly, but here she could start to see friends, she could start to see something different, she could be happy.

She got into her hotel room, she had battled with the thoughts in her head in the cab, she was tethered to Seattle somehow; she had a job here, she had one friend here, and a group of surgeons she could potentially like, she was stuck in a myriad of echoing uncertainties but she had to make a decision even if regret would be the endgame, she settled in bed and called Mark,

"_**Hey, how is Seattle…ready to run back to Providence just yet?"**_

Callie giggled for a while, "No Mark, not yet and I'm not thinking about that" she replied

"_**Are you okay? You sound a little off, did you have a bad day?" **_he asked

"No, actually I had a good day, I was thinking that since my contract here is almost permanent—you should sell my apartment" silence met her ears from the other side of the line, she knew those weren't the words he was expecting to hear in a long time

"_**Wait… what! NO! What if you decide to come back home, where are you going to stay then?" **_his voice carried a slightly higher pitch than before, he had started getting a little ticked

"Mark, this is practically my home now—if I come back to Providence maybe for a visit, but I am not coming back to stay" Callie cleared the air but that wasn't the answer the much larger man was expecting

"_**This is always going to be your home, I'm your home—what if you start to hate it in a week? And you want to quit—what then?" **_he asked

"I'm not being an avoider anymore Mark, maybe we should start taking steps; I'm going apartment hunting tomorrow, maybe you should take one too and show Lexie the ring you have been hiding" Callie said

"_**You're sure this is what you really want?" **_he asked finally to be sure she was willing to let go of the only home she ever stayed in for more than 3 years except for her father's villa in Miami

"Yes, I am sure" she had the echoes of uncertainty but she had to let the apartment go, she was starting a life somewhere else

"_**Then I support your decision, I got to lock up the studio—I'll call you when I get home…hey! I love you kiddo"**_

"Ditto"

######

I'm glad to be able to project a reader's idea like this, and she likes it so far… and she isn't really a Lauren fan so i had to make that happen!


	3. Turning Tables 3

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

A|N: My apologies if this updates come in a little slow, it was a bright idea by a reader and I had to start it immediately…so I might take pauses mid-update…but the updates won't stop all the together.

QOTS: The best relationships are built on love and understanding partners, but the greatest relationships are built from friendship.

#####

Chapter 3

The thing about the future is that we wait for it, want it, hope for it, expect it, some even swear they can see flashes of it. But the thing about the future is that it can change on a dime by the people we meet and talk to, decision we choose to make, and paths we thread. And when we don't have the future _**yet**_ all we are saddled with are the past and the present and sometimes some of us are stuck more in the former than the latter.

It had been full two days since Arizona had laid her eyes on Callie, she could deny till she ran out of air that she wasn't excited that her best friend was in the same state, same hospital, walks the same halls as her but she was ecstatic; she had gone down the ortho side of the hospital just so she could steal a glance at her, but Callie was off duty still— so all Arizona could do was wait till she was officially back roaming those halls, Callie's words about the tint in her hair and her eyes kept resounding in her mind and each time a smile found its way to her lips, it was more like she couldn't help it. She sat at her kitchen table sipping her morning coffee, flipping through the newspaper—she checked her phone and pager more than 5 times over the past minute she had been sitting at the table, for some reason Arizona was eager to leave the house—the silence was the reason she was up that early, she needed the restful comfort of the fact the she didn't have to hear her girlfriend talk about marriages, kids and the idea of forever; she loved the idea that her girlfriend was foresighted and believed in the thought of lasting relationships, not that the scene of it all didn't make her feel accomplished—it did. But of recent some things she used to think had started becoming a little cloudy and she didn't know why but she wasn't thinking _**straight. **_Normally she had Teddy to rant to but she had gone to a medical seminar along with Derek and a couple other attendings, she couldn't be more excited to have her roof in the pouring rain right back beside her.

She felt the warm embrace of her girlfriend from behind and her cold lips pressed against her cheek, "You zoned off last night, figured you were tired" her sleepy voice said, and the slim figure walked over to pour herself a cup of coffee and paused mid sip after noticing the look on her girlfriend's face, "Babe, are you okay?" she asked

"Just a lot on my mind with work" she smiled and shrugged off the question, it wasn't doubt that had Arizona's knots loosened, it wasn't that she had feelings for Callie either, at least she was sure that wasn't it, she had only one encounter with Callie and she had been with the amazing lady for 1years—it wasn't any form of attraction; she was excited by her presence and the longing to see her and say something to her was the fact that they hadn't seen each other in years—she missed her and that was all that it was, her pager broke her stream of disjointed thoughts, "work calls" she gave her girlfriend a quick peck and was out of the kitchen to get ready.

Callie had taken time before coming in officially, she had begged Owen for one more day; she had guessed she would hate everything about Seattle and would choose to pack her bags after the first orientation, but surprisingly she was here and moving in boxes to her new apartment and set to resume her first day—things were going along smoothly for her and she liked this particular pace her life was moving, wasn't anything extraordinary or out of place; it was extremely calming, was anything going to change anytime soon? Callie had a serious doubt about that.

Callie had been moving boxes up the stairs for more than an hour, she had been having the worst reaction to Seattle's constant rain, "Please tell me that's the last of it" Cristina huffed entering the apartment, she was holding a blender and a spatula

Callie looked shocked at what Cristina was holding, "there are about 4 boxes down there and _**that**_ is what you could carry?" Callie had the sniffles, normally she would stay home and flip through channels with Mark, but she was in a new environment and Cristina was as comforting as a bed of thorns

Cristina shrugged and dropped it on the kitchen counter, "I am not moving anymore boxes, and I'm spent" she fell heavy into the couch and put her feet up on one of Callie's suitcases

"You know that's not a table right?" she shoved her legs off, and made a beeline for the door, Cristina sighed heavy patiently waiting for Callie to ask her what she had on her mind, "Okay! What's bugging you Yang?—that's the third time in 9minutes"

"I think Owen might still be angry I offered him off to Teddy" Callie shrugged and continued what she was doing, they had the conversation when they had gone apartment hunting the other day and Callie had expressed her aversion for her action but she understood her dilemma, "He's being aggressive"

"Second characteristics of the Burke syndrome, wait till he starts shunning you and then takes you off the OR schedule" Callie joked knowing how much Cristina hated the comparison, "At least you're getting laid even if he burns off all the skin on your ass"

"Sex starved Callie is rather bitter if you ask me" Cristina said, instantly wiping the laughter from Callie's face

"Get up! 4 boxes left and I don't want to be late on the very first day" Callie pulled the lazy petite Asian woman off her couch and back down the stairs, "rest of my furniture comes in later today"

"You're sure you don't need a jacket?, Tissues?, Tea?, Lava? Something for the flu—you're turning red there Torres" Cristina said to her friend

"I'm fine"

######

Teddy had arrived early that morning feeling tired and jetlagged, so she decided to crash on the couch in Arizona's office, the one in hers just didn't feel right enough for the nature of comfort her tired body was craving, she heard the door slam and pushed her arm that was placed over her eyes away lazily to stare at blonde, "You're here early"

"Calliope Torres is here" Over the years that Teddy and Arizona had been friends, that name had been mentioned almost every time; she always had a story from her past that involved the brunette and over the time Teddy had finally asked what the story behind the estranged brunette was, and after hearing it Teddy had over and over again equated that to the case of her and Owen except she stayed and tried as hell to unring the bell and Callie fled the scene completely.

"_**The **_Calliope Torres? The one from your past? The one you don't talk to anymore? Your used-to-be best friend? That Calliope Torres?" Teddy sat up from her position expecting more from that little sentence, she knew Arizona loved her best friend; during their intern year she had mentioned her a couple times and always with so much glimmer in her eyes

"Yes, that one—she's here Teddy and she looks amazing, I still felt that closeness even though she has changed and she sent Lauren packing" Arizona said with a giggle seeing as they both never liked Lauren, she was a know-it-all and never did more than her time demanded

"Oh that I would have loved to see—I want to meet her right now" Teddy said standing up from the couch like she knew exactly what she looked like, she had seen pictures of Callie but the reality in person was sublime and she looked older than that.

"You're both working together today, saw her name on your surgery later today" Arizona shrugged like she didn't wish it was her surgery Callie was on

"If you do that freaky thing where you bring me coffee or something just to stalk her, or hang around my service I will tell her you still kept her sweater, and you wear it sometimes" Teddy issued out her threat with a deadpan expression knowing her friend already had it in mind to be around her service that day

"Have I told you how much I hate you lately" Arizona said to her friend walking out of her office, Teddy paused halfway between the halls and her friend's office, wrapping her hand around the door handle, "You love me…Hey! This is you trying to rekindle your friendship right?" Teddy asked the loaded question of the year

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arizona asked

"Heather…your girlfriend? Remember her?" Arizona smiled knowing Teddy was just looking out for their great circle of friendship. Teddy, Arizona and Heather had become friends ever since she joked and proposed to her with a macaroni made ring and they had been together a year ever since, they had their marbles but they found a way round it

"I'm aware Teddy…she's just a friend" They smiled at each other and Teddy was off to find the mystery brunette whose details had plagued her ears for years

Callie stepped into the hospital damp with Mother Nature's blessing as her neighbor often called it, but Callie hadn't seen how a blessing could ruin her hair and cause sniffles,

"Oh you're looking green" Arizona said stepping up to the brunette with a smile she wasn't sure she was allowed to wear just yet, but she was pushing forward either way, "So this new acquaintance thing how far does it go? Am I allowed to mock?"

Callie smiled knowing she had stepped into a mocking filled day with the blonde, "It would be incomplete without mocking don't you think?" Callie raised her eyebrow at the blonde waiting for the first hit

Arizona was more interested with the missing top button on Callie's shirt that exposed her tanned cleavage, rain droplet streaming down from her hair to her neck, and down her chest and for one second Arizona wished she was that little droplet of rain, she swallowed a lump in her throat. _**I love **__**H**__**e**__**ather**__** and Callie is an old friend who just happens to look extremely hot**_, "You're in OR 3 with Teddy all day?"

Callie looked up from the papers in front of her, "Teddy the best friend?" she smiled, "the Callie 2.0" Arizona giggled softly but her eyes kept slipping back from the loose shirt back to Callie's face, what was she thinking? She had a girlfriend and she had this weird feeling towards Callie, she knew that they were friends at some point in her life and whenever Callie wore a shirt with the top button gone she never really noticed but it was a little hard to miss, the sight was rather distracting, "where's your mind, Robbins"

Callie ran her hand through her we hair and in that moment Arizona felt uncomfortable, complete exposure of her neck region, Arizona stared longingly at the water streaming down her neck, down her décolletage till it was out of sight down her top, "Robbins!" Callie called again, "Where's your mind?"

Arizona waved her hand dismissively like she had not been staring at Callie lustfully for the past couple minutes, Callie wasn't just the girl with all the dark shades of clothing and shy attitude; she was all woman and curvy, her toned features hadn't gone unnoticed by Arizona ever since she kicked Lauren out of her OR couple days before, but why would—should she care that Callie looked like she got cropped off a magazine catalogue?

"Surgeries back to back" she said and walked off mentally smacking herself for being the one holding the torch now, but she wasn't holding a torch for her friend, she hadn't seen her in a long time and this was to some extent usual, she wouldn't do anything stupid intentionally, Callie is hot and she noticed; of course she would it's not exactly like she is blind. Callie watched the blonde walk off and furrowed her brow wondering what exactly she said that might have drifted off to the side of weird.

Callie couldn't deny that seeing Arizona everyday wasn't a perk to the job but she came here for other reasons, she had her research to think about, and she was sure Arizona had a love life; she was a beautiful, funny, a little dorky when the occasion called for it, she was adorable and sexy and that kind of person doesn't stay single unless it was a personal decision. She smiled at the view but was quick to shake the thoughts out because this wasn't something that was happening again, and whatever she had for Arizona broke away a long time ago, now she was just interested in being friends with her. Cristina was right she was sex starved and this was something she needed to get out of her head, the generally scorned looking brunette had planted a really naughty seed in Callie's head.

She had to find Teddy she had never met the blonde before but she had heard stories of her brilliance in the OR and well, her other activities when it came down to relationships that weren't hers; apparently she wasn't too charming on that front but Callie was willing to keep an open mind, she was Arizona's best friend after all she really couldn't be that bad.

"Teddy Altman?" Callie walked in the scan room to see a skinny, beautiful blonde in her navy blue scrubs and her white overcoat, the lady looked towards the sound of Callie's voice and smiled

"Callie Torres?" She said proffering her hand for a shake, "nice to finally meet you" she scanned Callie up and down and thought for sure the verbal descriptions didn't do her enough justice, "Welcome to Seattle Grace, I'm officially welcoming you"

Callie figured that this was Arizona's best friend so obviously she has heard something about their little past and she probably had her fair share of questions; it was just a matter of time before she asked. They stared at the scans for a couple minutes; they had an invigorating conversation and walked through each treatment plan and each other's thought process. Teddy was impressed at how easy it was for her to work with her even though this was their first encounter, she turned to face Callie

"So I can say we're friendly now right" Callie had her face printed in a jotting pad just gave a shrug urging the conversation on, "can I ask you something"

"Yes, sure!" Callie responded

"So you and Arizona, have you two had a conversation since you came" Callie stopped writing and stared right at the blonde with a puzzled expression

"You're not the subtle type are you? Teddy shook her head expecting a reply after that

"We're friends I guess…or we're trying to be friends" Callie did nothing to clear the air but she hoped that answer was good enough for Arizona's inquisitive friend

"Just friends?" Teddy asked again which brought Callie's mind to exactly what she was asking, she wasn't asking to be sure if they had gotten over years of grudge; she was asking if Callie had gotten over her years of crushing

"If you're asking if I'm still carrying a big torch for Arizona, I am not—that was eight years ago and now I'm just trying to be friendly and work" she said with smile, that might have been good enough to convince Teddy but was she actually lying to herself? She didn't think so—she had dated after Arizona and she moved on from that hurt girl to an ambitious freight train

That answer appeared to have satisfied the blonde cause she had this calmer air around her, and Callie understood but she was the one who got bruised by what happened so why was Teddy trying to protect Arizona?

After long hours of consulting with Teddy they had the surgery scheduled for another day after the patient sneaked in some food, which wasn't something to do before a surgery.

Callie sat down in the hallway after hours of standing from another grueling surgery; she had just taken out her French braid so her hair was a little frizzy, she ran her hand over her face when she heard,

"Here!" she opened her eyes to see Arizona holding out a paper cup filled with a hot liquid substance for her, "I could hear your cold wheezing all the way from the Peds floor" she gave Callie the cup

"Twice in one day? – and to think I thought we wouldn't run into each other…" Callie paused mid-sip and sniffed the tea Arizona brought, "is that eucalyptus?" Arizona smiled and nodded knowing how much Callie hated the taste—she was always quick to protest whenever Arizona made her that for her flu

Callie found the fact that Arizona was being friendly very new even though they had been down this road before, but the fact that she was right there in Callie's line of view every time felt new to her but she wasn't complaining about the new found familiarity; after all this was her idea to let the history be buried under their pretense of aging out of the memory of the past. Callie seemed fine with the pretense but Arizona was dying to hit her upside the head with something hard and ask her why she let them get so bad, how she would walk away and never look back, how she could not be there for her when her brother died, how she let her go through the insane hours of internship alone and every other moment she needed her best friend but got complete silence from Callie—maybe Callie got bruised by something she didn't take a minute to try to understanding, but Arizona got bruised by the aftermath of her actions— more like an emotional domino effect; Callie walking out without understanding pushed the first chip and they had been falling ever since, in the long run it became both their pain.

Callie stared at the cup of hot liquid brimming with revulsion, she set it down on the corridor bench and caught the knowing smile on Arizona's face, she hadn't seen those dimples in a while but, God she missed them.

"I see some things haven't changed in a while" the tone of her voice almost seemed patronizing coupled with the smile and head tilt, she was trying the reverse psychology trick on Callie, she cast a look back at the cup and decided she wasn't going to fall for that

"Oh, like what?" Callie watching Arizona's facial expressions intently, their conversations weren't exactly free and easy just yet; but she was required to at least make an attempt for a friendship she once cherished

"Fact that you can't drink that without cringing" Callie rolled her eyes at her with an agreeing half hearted chuckle, she raked her fingers through her hair and smiled, Teddy hadn't shown too much affection for her rather chummy warm relationship with Arizona so she was quick to seek out the hallways for wandering blondes

"I mean, substantial stuff Arizona" Callie dared her on, which Arizona gracefully took on, she smiled and sat beside Callie, hands beside her pressed palm-flat on the bench and gripping the edge, she turned to stare at the somewhat gloating brown eyes waiting for her to come up with nothing, Arizona's mind trailed off to the multitude of things she remembered about her friend. They shared a glance, Arizona smiled slightly

"Well, like how even when you knew Seattle was a wet state you packed 0 sweaters? Like your addiction to peanut butter? Like how I know you're waiting out your flu till it actually becomes a bother" Callie had an expression that could be likened to being scolded, Arizona was spot on with everything even though they were barely anything; realization that she still knew something about her that would never waver was near impressive and the guilt slowly washed the look off her face. Arizona remembered her as she was but she had lost pieces and details about her; over the years of resolute suppression of whatever memory they might have shared, pieces of Arizona got left behind gradually; she avoided the pain, buried the pain and drank off the pain and she sat in front of Arizona staring into those amazing blue orbs trying to find portions of what she had left but they were barely enough to make one point.

Callie let out a breath, smiled "You Robbins and your need to show off all the time, you and Tim have that in common" she was oblivious to the shift in behavior, Callie opened her mouth to continue but noticed that Arizona had trailed off into her own mind leaving Callie to converse with a shell, "Arizona, did I say something wrong?"

"No, you…uhmm, you mentioned Tim—I haven't heard that name in a while" Arizona forced a smile, showing what she was really feeling or talking about it isn't a concept Arizona was used to, it was the concluding attribute of her military upbringing and her years of being alive.

"He is your brother…what do you mean you haven't heard that name in a while? He is practically your hero" Callie sat back leaning against the hallway walls waiting for the little crack in her hard exterior, she had no place to push an answer out of Arizona anymore, that severed connection that had created boundaries Callie wasn't so sure she was ready to start crossing or was even allowed to.

"Was—was my hero…he died 4 years ago, hearing you say his name and refer to him in the present is just…it's been a long time" Arizona's half smile did nothing to express a relaxed attitude, Callie bringing up her brother obviously brought about some deep-seated emotions she was talented at covering with layers of veneer, but even in her moments of laughter her feelings no matter how small found ways to bleed through.

"I'm sorry for bringing that up, I didn't know" Callie said

"How would you? It's not like you were here" Arizona waved off her statement dismissively but Callie knew that was a loaded reply, Arizona meant that in more ways than one, that wasn't a laid-back statement to make Callie feel better for bringing up her deceased brother; no, that was blame in a well boxed sentence but it was blame either way but Callie didn't exactly know what for.

Callie knew that was the end of the conversation but she felt she owed Arizona something after that, "I got an apartment" Callie said offhandedly throwing the words out in the wind, awkward moment be damned!—Callie clenched her jaw knowing that was miles away from the conversation

"And let's not forget your meager attempts to raise the air in a depressing room, you always sucked at that" Arizona concluded

Callie conceded and raised both hands in defeat, "can't blame a girl for trying, right?" Callie flashed her a weak smile, while she was busy nursing her bruised ego, Arizona went through actual lose and she didn't even hear about it—she had met Tim on countless occasions; he was the brother she never had, and Arizona's family were the version of hers that didn't exist, she never had a family support her sexuality; hers casted biblical quotes at her and versed her with daily lessons of what the fiery pits of hell felt like.

"Notwithstanding, you're not painting it gray or black are you? I know how much the idea of living in a bat cave seems thrilling to you" Arizona said shoving Callie's shoulder lightly; a gesture of familiar friendship.

"Oh Robbins, if you keep going on like this, guessing my every thought like this? I might have to check for a person with dark hoodie and binoculars outside my window every night" that little statement broke Arizona's tense resolve and she broke out into a soft chuckle, "want to help me move things around?", they held each other's stare for a while, Callie finally averting the stare that felt longer than ever to push out the concluding statement so as not to come off as an imposition, "if you want to"

"And this is not the part where you sit back and put me to work? You're skilled at that" Callie couldn't deny that Arizona's constant stroll down memory wasn't an attempt to guilt trip Callie even more, she was saying the things she remembered innocently but they had their little effects on Callie, they were things she used to do, if she had stayed would she be Arizona's Teddy, she would have been there for Tim's death, and what other thing would she have missed?

Callie giggled softly and shook her head, "no"

"Fine! Meet me at the lobby at 7" Arizona squeezed Callie's shoulder and walked away not before sounding off the order to her, "Drink that tea!" Callie smiled as the glanced at the ebbing figure of the brunette and tried to savor the fleeting feeling of their encounter, somehow they were building a connection again and this time Callie knew she was smart enough to tell the difference between a friendship and a deeper connection that was love.

Callie wrapped up everything she had to do, post-op cases were taken care of, on call nurses were assigned to the critical ones that needed over night watch, she would have put in the effort herself but she couldn't manage one more night in that hotel or another second in those annoying showers that made her hair smell like rain water off a rusty roof, she had to get settled in; Cristina was as helpful as TV remote without a battery and Callie wasn't sure how long she could go on hearing her spiel on the sexual escapades with her rather caveman-like boyfriend, especially when she was sex starved.

Arizona remembered it was a Thursday and that was the usual date night for her and Heather, it had practically become rote for Arizona; she would drive from work straight to the restaurant every Thursday it was something that had never skipped her mind, and if by work emergencies she was likely not to make it she would send her a text, but for the first time—it actually skipped her mind and there she was standing in the lobby looking at the approaching form of the stunning Latina and she thought in that moment that a change for a day wasn't the worst idea in the world.

"Ready?" Callie asked flashing her amazing smile

"Yup—so you're driving or am I?" Arizona asked quietly

"Arizona I wasn't wet this morning cause it was raining in the cab, I live a few walks from here" Callie said walking out of the double doors into the chilly Seattle breeze, she blew out a shuddering breath as the cold breeze cut through her light layers of clothing and caused Arizona's raised eyebrow, "what?"

"Get a sweater!" she fell in line after Callie so as they strolled down the street to her house, the air was damp but like Arizona clearly said Callie was the type to equip herself if a leather jacket in a wet state.

After the bed was fixed and half a glass of white wine had been wolfed down, Arizona received a text from her girlfriend.

__**running late? Hoped you wouldn't be busy tonight I had a sexy lingerie date planned, call me when you get this… love you_**_

Arizona's eyes searched for Callie in the maze of clustered furniture, for a little while her feelings that being in that room, hiding that text and the detail that she was dating someone from Callie made feel like she was mentally cheating on her girlfriend.

_**_post-op complication on this kid so we're going back into the OR, see you when I get in later…love you_ **_

Arizona typed in her reply and hit send.

Callie was quick to pick up on her friend's scrunched up expression, she might have guessed for a while that Arizona had a place to be, or something planned for a Thursday night she wasn't ready to make her stay for her, "Everything okay?" Callie asked, walking through her cluttered living room, it had become even more spacious with her boxes stowed away in another room.

"Yes, perfectly fine—so are we moving the furniture now or what?" Arizona asked after putting her phone away

"Yes!" Callie said

####

Sorry for the delay!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

QOTS: The best relationships are built on love and understanding partners, but the greatest relationships are built from friendship.

####

A bed that didn't feel like it had rocks in it, a shower that dispensed water that was actually clean, privacy and that feeling that all the space is your own—there's nothing as calming as being in your own space; knowing all the things in that space belongs to you. Callie was done fixing up her apartment, Arizona had done a lot to help the night before and she was very thankful the other day when Teddy joined her at an attempt to keep an eye out for the both of them, for some misguided reason she felt they were up to no good being around each other, Callie really didn't mind the fact that there were more hands moving boxes and setting up her apartment.

It was a Saturday and officially 3weeks since she started working in Seattle, three weeks since she started trying to be friends with Arizona, and three long weeks since she had laid eyes on her best friend; it wasn't the same hearing his voice over the phone, wasn't the same when she rolled her eyes at his dirty comments—she missed slapping him upside the head with a rolled up magazine.

She also ran into a person from her past besides Cristina; Derek Shepherd had been shocked to see her roaming the halls after their little past in New York when she took Mark's side after he slept with his wife, after that they all just seemed to break away from there, he wasn't exactly the most friendly at first but after Callie spread her "bury the past" spiel they at least tried to exist in a less hostile manner.

She sat in the cab taking in the Seattle walks and people on foot in the pouring rain, head leaning against the glass—she had thoughts about the dinner Arizona invited her to the day before, she had battles and protests in her head about saying yes but in the end those ocean blue eyes and dimples won the stare down, she hadn't seen Barbara or Daniel in 9 years and those people were practically her parents when hers really weren't acting like care-givers. They offered her a jacket in the cold, and home in the daunting darkness of the night. She owed them that much to show up for the dinner that night, so she was going in to work to hammer something, fix a bone; anything to keep her calm for the night ahead.

She walked in through the ER doors; clad in the usual charcoal jeans, leather boots and this time an actual sweater over her shirt, "someone is finding it hard to stay away from the hospital" Arizona said from behind her; she heard the approaching tap of her shoe heels on the ground. Callie turned around and smiled at the stunning beauty before her

"Look who's talking" she replied Arizona, catching her amazing shape in her outfit, but it wasn't her place to compliment on her outfit or the fact that her skirt exposed her amazing legs, the fact that her curled up hair looked endearing, her glossed pink lips were alluring, "okay, I know your patients are below 18 but who's the lucky kid?" Callie joked

"Ha…ha you funny lady, I'm picking up my mum and dad at the airport to get them settled in Seattle" she smiled softly watching Callie's face attentively, she knew when she invited her over for dinner with her parents it was a bad idea but she had already broken that dam, hard to stop the rush of whatever thoughts flowing through Callie's mind right after then. All she could do was try not to make the night discomfiting for her in any way.

"Do I need to bring something, Cobbler? People always have that in a tupperware whenever they're invited over" Arizona chuckled at the genuine fear in her face about dinner with her family, Callie knew it was inevitable for little memories from the past to get casted out innocently during the nostalgic haze, but that part is over and there's no one to blame; but things can't really be the same after so long, Would Barbara still treat her like her own?—would Daniel still remember much of her?

"Don't be a cliché American Torres, and I think that's casserole" she watched Callie roll her eyes, "You're here to get your hands dirty to relieve the tension?" Callie hated that one person would know what she was thinking, that was Mark's job and not someone she hadn't spoken to in ages—not someone she didn't know anything about anymore, not someone that reminded her that she was indeed an avoider.

Callie scoffed off the statement; she wasn't going to give her the satisfaction that she was right, "You really need to stop doing that Robbins, and no. Need to sign some discharge forms and some post-op instructions for my therapy patient" Perks on working in different fields; she could string up a bunch of irrelevant words that looked medical and she make it seem important. "So wine then? That's dinner 101"

"Just bring your delightful self"

"Oh, so we're admitting I'm delightful now, improvement" Callie said with a wide grin, she had her bright smile directed at Arizona

"Sucker!" Arizona murmured undertone but loud enough for her to be heard by the person standing right in front of her, "You have met them before countless times what's different?" there was it again—her little way of making their little banters about her 8years of playing runaway, or was it just Callie feeling everything was about that because deep down she knew her ways from back then had traces of spinelessness.

"Wine…that's definitely something to bring right? It's like a warm gesture, coming empty handed says; I didn't want to come and I'm a cold surgeon with no single direction to the wine store or cheap" Arizona raised an eyebrow informing Callie she's aware of the ignored question, it was Callie's idea to let the past remain blank but Arizona never consented to playing along

"Oh, by all means please over intellectualize the whole dinner, I dare you please" Arizona said with a sardonic deadpan stare, "Just my parents Callie not the president of Russia"

Their playful back and forth was interrupted when a slender figure; she was blonde but her hair was a shade darker than Arizona's golden blonde hair, she walked through the hospital doors and made a beeline to where Arizona and Callie were having their conversation, "Hey babe" Callie turned to the sound of the voice and saw the her arms stretched out for the person standing opposite her. Callie took a step back to create a reasonable distance between them; over the course of their conversation they had unconsciously taken little steps forward towards each other.

She hugged Arizona and placed a tender kiss on her lips before noticing they had company, "Oh…Hi" she smiled and looked back and forth from Arizona and Callie like she had interrupted a proposal or something important cause they both had a stock-still look on their faces, "Uhmm…Hi, I'm Heather Marin" she had her hand stretched to Callie.

Arizona snapped out of her frozen shock and finally pushed out her words, "Oh, uhmm…sorry, Heather this is Callie; my…" she paused for a little while not knowing which category Callie was in exactly, she stared at Callie who was also waiting to see where she was standing with the blonde, "uhmm…my colleague, and Callie this is Heather—my girlfriend" they shook hands and she flashed Arizona a smile at the word "colleague"

"Yes, I am Callie the colleague" Callie repeat while staring straight at Arizona, who just clenched her jaw like she was caught cheating

"You look very familiar" Heather said staring at Callie

"Well, if you read a lot of medical journals I would understand" Callie said playfully

"Feel free Calliope, blow your own horns" Arizona said mockingly shaking her head at Callie's comment

"Hush!" Callie said softly turning her gaze away from Heather who was evidently confused at their teasing and side stares even with the fact that she was standing right there, she scuffed her shoes against the ground which made a somewhat screeching sound for her presence to be appreciated.

"Well, babe we have to get going your parent's plane would be touching Seattle soon" she walked out of the door not exactly showing what she was thinking, but obviously her long time dating Arizona had rubbed off on her in so many way because she walked out of the doors with no trace of emotion, hard to tell if their rather too friendly ways offended her.

"_If you read medical journals"_ Arizona said mimicking Callie's words with a high pitched tone, "show off" she huffed quietly at the smiling Latina

"Good luck telling your girlfriend how your…" Callie decided to air quote the word for emphasis. "… "colleague" knows your parents and why she's being invited to a family dinner"

"Oh…crap!"

"Yeah, good luck with that champ" she gave Arizona's shoulder a light friendly tap and walked by down the halls to her side of the hospital ready to cut something open for the tension; a hairline fracture or even a sprain she gets to put a bandage one would help her mind find some peace.

#####

Arizona stood leaning against the door frame watching her girlfriend rearrange their already spotless bedroom over and over again, redecorating the pillows and pulling off the sheets and laying it over again.

"There's a island called passive aggressiva, and you're their queen" Arizona said gently walking into the spotless room and sitting on the edge of the bed

"You'd be where I am too if you met some colleague from my office and suddenly hearing my parents talk about her on the drive to their hotel…" she paused half way through her blather and looked contemplative at Arizona, who just raised an eyebrow expecting something else, "she's the girl from the family picture isn't she? The one you said you don't talk to anymore?"

"She's an old friend of the family, that's it—please don't make this bigger than what it is, you want to fight about I can tell I just don't have the appetite" Arizona stood from the bed knowing the conversation was slowly taking a detour to the side of hostile, they had been having similar talks all week and the best thing Arizona knew how to do in that time was walk out of the door

"Walk away Arizona, that's a new skill you've picked up; when I talk about kids, marriage" Heather said with a rather snarky tone

"My parents are in town; maybe you can calibrate the attitude a little for the sake of their presence"

#####

_**_Dinner starts 6:30 Torres… my mom is so excited that you're coming. See you tonight_**_

Callie sat in her closet looking through her limited clothes; she had packed some dresses among other things but she hadn't expected she'd need to wear a dress this soon into her arrival to Seattle, she had thought of focusing on her work and fooling around with random girls and then a serious date that would require a tight, curve adoring, ass hugging dress, dresses that adorned her natural God given Latina curves but she wasn't going to get laid; she was going to meet Arizona's parents and they hadn't seen her in ages. She wanted to look very good for that moment and also didn't want to look overdressed, but as a girl that line between both is practically the hardest thing; finding a dress that wasn't an overkill and also made you look drop dead gorgeous. She picked a dress but the neckline was too low and the side slit was riding a little too high. Callie sighed running her fingers over each fabric as she pushed them over for another outfit that didn't seem to match, after minutes she decided she couldn't go wrong with Ann Taylor; she pulled out her tipped sweater jacket; it was a beautiful white ash color, jewel neck, ¾ sleeves, front hook-and-eyes closure, welt chest pocket with button, and it had a ribbed hem. She paired that with her amazing charcoal pants. She had pushed the thought that it was too casual but she wasn't worried about how she would appear to Barbara; deep down she saw flashed of Arizona's expression when she picked an outfit out in her head. She complemented the outfit with knee leather boots and had her dark, thick, shiny raven tresses in curls.

Callie took deep breaths, ran her hand through her hair twice adjusted her sweater, more deep breaths finally index finger pushing against the doorbell, welcoming veranda; Callie generally wouldn't have picked Arizona as a town house, door bell, brunch and crudités type of person but they had both grown, she was just starting to know this familiar stranger again.

Arizona pulled the door open fully clad in a plain white tee; thigh length with her black leggings and flip flops, "Well, you look really nice" Arizona said with a dimpled grin that showed she was completely excited that Callie had showed up

Callie mentally skipping in her head she didn't overkill with the tight dress; thank you Ann Taylor. "Thank…" she heard a familiar fading voice from behind the grinning blonde

"_Sweetie is that Calliope, honey is she here?" _Barbara said from within the house

Callie stretched out the bottle of vintage French Bordeaux wine, "You brought that for my parents, you brownnoser now you're going to be their favorite" Arizona joked. "Come on in"

The house was warm, homely and smelled like cinnamon; that was Barbara's signature pastry when she was around anywhere; the house had windows which was intended to bring light into the rooms and give it have a certain glow, but it had gotten a slightly dark which dimmed the room a little, furniture didn't have a definite design; it was eclectic, playful and colorful, for some reason Callie recognized this room so much, the colors were free but they matched and brought the entire room together, the ocean blue drapes making it beautiful. Callie passed through a narrow passage before entering into a huge kitchen,

"Calliope sweetheart, oh, how you have grown—come here" said a woman in her early 50s with her blonde hair neatly slicked back with an Alice band pulling Callie into a tight hug, it felt so common, so comfortable like it was something she had been doing all her life; she fell deep into the hug with her eyes closed, taking it all in, "there's barely any of you left to hug, you're definitely staying for dessert"

Arizona leaned against the kitchen entrance scaffold with a huge smile; it was a nostalgia filled evening, watching Callie and Barbara forget that she was even in the room and started talking like they had been doing this for a long time, their occasional laughter echoed off the kitchen walls. Callie and Barbara had started their dinner ritual, they always found this joy in cooking together even 9years ago; they would experiment with several recipes and Arizona's palates were the judge. Callie pulled her sleeves to her elbow and started pulling open drawers like this was where she had been before, they flowed freely through the kitchen sharing memories and giggles of funny moments.

"Arizona where is your pasta?" Callie asked the blonde lost in a numberless amount of thoughts sitting on the kitchen stool, she had moved from leaning against the doorframe for a better view at their banter, Arizona walked over to get it for her and looked over at everything that had been put together within Callie's arrival

"Need any help?" Arizona asked

"Oh no sweetie, you're good for grabbing groceries but not cooking. Calliope honey remember the time she helped during thanksgiving?" Barbara said playfully

"Who wouldn't, didn't know it was possible to have a salty salad but Arizona here is pretty talented" Callie replied

Arizona had her mouth open and her eyes wide, that was a long time ago and the fact that it was a weapon at her culinary skills at a recent time was rather shocking, "just like old times, go on, gang up against me—dad always has my back"

"Speaking of your father, get out of those house clothes he would be here soon along with your girlfriend and Teddy" Barbara said. "Calliope and I would finish here" Callie flashed Arizona a soft smile

"Can I at least frost the cake for dessert?" Arizona volunteered. "Feel bad putting our guest to work"

"Calliope is never a guest here, she's practically home; sweetie get out of those slacks and be back to set the table" Barbara said to Arizona like it was 8 years ago again, Callie felt warmth in her heart and some regret that she missed a lot of this. She never got this when she was home; there was nothing like a family dinner where anyone cared what anyone wore, after she got accepted into a remarkable program in New York she packed her bags and didn't look back and her parents never made the trip over the waters to her. But the Robbins were nothing like that; they made the trip, they called, they cared and she couldn't believe she let that go for something that seemed to trivial now. Only if she knew then what she knew now.

Arizona changed into something more formal for the evening, and stepped down the stairs to see Callie in the living room, she had an expression Arizona couldn't quite place.

"What are you looking at?" she glanced down the hall, heard no sound of pans or anything being moved and the scene before her was lacking a blonde woman in her 50s. "Where's my mother?"

Callie casted her eyes to her watch, "She said Daniel would be here soon so she went to get all gussied up" she said still staring round the room

"Even after over 30 years they still look good for each other, do you think we'd be like that?" Arizona asked, she watched for Callie's reaction closely, Callie furrowed her brow trying to understand where exactly her answer could direct the comment to, it could just be a simple question but this didn't seem simple considering they had been in a place where she thought Arizona felt something and she was wrong, so it was wiser to play clueless or make it less vague.

"You mean when we meet people we love? You have Heather right?" Callie said with a smile

"Right Heather, yes her—I do" their gaze caught on each other for a moment more than necessary, the room suddenly started to feel smaller, the cooling system became faulty, the walls were closing in; those blue eyes stared like they were searching for something, silent moments between them seemed to become a flash of latent emotions, but what kind of emotions?

Callie snapped them out of their silence, "This room looks familiar, why?" Arizona smiled and walked past the well set décor, to a book shelf and pulled out a picture; she handed it over to the brunette

"This is our apartment…you…recreated the pattern, I knew I recognized something" Callie shook her head in surprise, Arizona had done things to get her thoughts strung up in vines but this was by far the most amazing thing she had seen yet. "You never let things go do you Robbins"

"Not when I value it, you on the other hand seem to have let it all go—thought you'd recognize it" her smile said she didn't mind that Callie didn't remember, almost like it wasn't even a bother but Callie really had let too much go while Arizona kept a lot from then, the fact that she left wasn't hurting as much as the aftershocks Arizona was hitting her with. The doorbell saved her the agony of coming up with a reply to that.

"_Arizona that is your father" _Barbara's soft voice echoes off the passage walls from the kitchen

She stood there in the room, memories of when she had her best friend, she had flashes, low screams of her words to Arizona that night she didn't remember how they got there but it's never been so clear that they made a mistake; she stared at the picture and back at the room, those days aren't coming back because they had grown so that was their reality.

A pinched looking thin lady with a darker shade of blonde made her way into the kitchen, followed closed by Teddy and Arizona; Heather wasn't too pleased with Callie's presence but she was obligated to smile and place a tarp on her unfriendly feelings so she hugged Barbara while Arizona and Teddy set the table. Daniel was pleased to see Callie; he pulled her into a full body hug wrapping his arms around her, Callie's head resting gently on his chest, he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Good to see you again kid, you'd have to tell me about those crazy adventures that kept you away all these years" Daniel said with a genuine smile. "Something smells good"

Arizona could feel the burning stares from her girlfriend in the corner of the room, she had never really gotten that much warmth from Daniel, he was firm and smiled once in a while but had flashed a smile the Latina's way thrice in one night. "All thanks to Callie's sauce recipe" Barbara said as she began setting the food down in the middle of the table in the room

"Shall we eat?" Daniel said pulling out a chair for Callie right beside him, he took his respected sit at the two-armed end chair with his wife on the right and Callie on the other side, Arizona right beside Barbara and Heather beside Arizona, and on left Teddy sat close to Callie.

Heather whispered to Arizona while food was being served and passed around the table, "she cooked, brought the perfect wine, and has your parents eating from her palms…Gee—sure hope she's not planning to propose soon" her tone dripping of scorn and jealousy, Arizona clenched her jaw and dismissed her impending outburst with a sigh.

"So Callie, Arizona told me you work in the same hospital now? That's amazing" he took a sip of wine and took hold of his cutlery again

"Yes, started 3 weeks ago" Callie answered politely

"When these two knuckleheads started their silent treatment had a bet they wouldn't last long, sure showed me huh?" Barbara smiled. "Damn near inseparable" she smiled again at the both of them. Teddy saw just how uncomfortable Arizona was becoming thanks to Heather leaning heavy on the table staring at her like the whole conversation was Arizona's fault

"Just how close?" Teddy asked sending a smile and a wink Arizona's way

"Really close, could have sworn they showered together" Teddy busted into laughter snorting wine out of her nose, Arizona cradled her head in her hands, in that moment she was mercury and Heather was the sun, the jealousy was radiating from her.

Callie looked around the table, at the innocently joking family and glanced the Arizona who mouthed "help me" soundlessly to her.

"Barbara you were telling me about your new collection of quilts" Barbara loved her job which also happened to be her hobby; she had a store of coverlets, fabrics and helped with matching of furniture, she had a strong passion for interior design, she could go on and on about her quilts for hours, talking about every type of stitching that was used to keep the material together. She could talk about her hand knitted blankets for days without pausing for a breath and that was Arizona's salvation, the dinner was smoother when Barbara started making jokes about her customers that couldn't recognize a type of fabric.

Dessert rolled by and Callie got her compliments on the frosting, she was sure to give Arizona credit for putting it on the cake; Callie didn't think she needed another skin piercing stare from Heather that evening. Not that there was a speck of intimidation to be felt but no matter how at home she felt around Arizona again, she was still the guest and she wasn't ready to start moving things that had been in place around.

"Dinner was good, secret recipe to making pasta that good I'm not aware of?" Heather's feeble attempt to make small talk didn't seem to hide the jealousy still strapped tight to her face

"Boil some pasta, make some sauce, mix it all together" Callie replied with a smile, this was Arizona's girlfriend—she was Arizona's friend she didn't have to like her partner all too well but she was trying, Barbara had Arizona and Teddy at the dishes; that was their way of making up for skipping dinner preparations while Barbara and Daniel settled in front of the TV for some old movies in each other's arms

"Look, I know we just met and we haven't gotten the best vibe from each other for a while but we have a common thread; she's your colleague and **my **girlfriend, we could try to get along" Heather proclaimed placing emphasis on the possessive tone

"Sounds good" Callie wasn't exactly sure if this was her marking her territory or extending an olive branch; the idea behind her approach was cloudy to Callie but she wasn't a bit bothered by Heather's insecurities. Her and Arizona had moments when she felt that something was behind those blue eyes, or sometimes she would say some things that would make her think that some words were being held back, thoughts collecting dust in Arizona's mind about them; things she would like to say to Callie but felt scared, was scared the word? She wasn't sure anymore what was floating between them, but she wasn't going to ruin it again by having feelings. She had to be smarter this time.

Teddy had seen them from down the hall in the kitchen and made a beeline over, "Hey Heather, everything okay?"

"Yes, was just inviting Callie for drinks this Thursday" Callie looked at her surprised at the sudden invitation, considering a moment ago she was setting up barb wires around Arizona

"Oh you should come, its dart night" Teddy said a little excited mixed with effects of alcohol that hadn't completely taken her thinking faculties but had taken some off. "Its date night and dart night"

"Guess I will be there" Callie said, she turned to Teddy and said "Ready?" she got a weak nod from the blonde. They were out of the door and hailing cabs home. Teddy had opted to be taken to the hospital but she wasn't in the right frame of mind to be practicing medicine or anything healing related.

Callie got home and fell heavy into her chair; her thoughts were streaming out anything Arizona related, she needed to think about work, surgeries, cartilage and random hot girls and not a taken, hot blonde with gorgeous eyes and wonderful smile; if she didn't stop those thoughts she would need alcohol. She turned on her TV and decided to watch her recorded shows, she nestled deeper into her couch with her pillow clutched to her chest and tuned to Suits, but Harvey's long string of law jargons was interrupted when she heard knocks on her door.

Wrapped her fingers around the knob wondering who that would be, "When you text a man an address be sure to put your apartment number, kid" a deep husky voice boomed from a 6foot tall man with gray hair and a dark brown beard

"Mark Everett Sloan, what the hell are you doing here?" Callie lunged forward wrapped her arms around the taller and much bigger man

"Missed you and figured it was time to see Seattle first hand, Lexie said it was okay since the wedding is in a month" he said pulling his best friend tighter to his chest. "What are you all dolled up for?"

"Was at dinner at my ex best friend—now friend's house and her girlfriend peed on me" Callie summarized in a nutshell

"Isn't she house broken?" Mark asked jokingly grabbing his luggage deeper into the apartment

Callie let out a laugh and shrugged, "Missed you buddy"

"Missed you too, kid—now tell me about this ex-best friend"

"Arizona Robbins"

"The Arizo…" Callie interrupted him with a nod, "wow! This should be fun"

###########

Sorry for the delay, sister had her wedding so I couldn't get to finish it within that time. But I can promise there won't be a delay on this next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy, this is purely imaginative writing most of the contents might not be true or match with how things work in reality bear with me this is just an imaginative work.

QOTS: The best relationships are built on love and understanding partners, but the greatest relationships are built from friendship.

Okay, we have all seen the promo and we're all freaking out and trending #WhoWillSurvive and if you haven't I'll suggest you do so we can all freak out as a whole.

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Steady uneven breaths blowing hot steam off coffee, blue orbs scanning the room attentively as she held the mug closely to her mouth to take a sip from the slightly less hot liquid in her grasp. Arizona sighed and placed the mug on the saucer; she had a free day on her hands and had been avoiding Callie for the past 3 days; ever since she stopped by and saw a rather shirtless man at her door holding a hot cup of tea like he owned the place he was relatively comfortable in his flip flops and shorts, which meant he was also getting comfortable with Callie, and she didn't stand a chance if Callie had gone straight over the years, she did have problems with her family over that particular topic couple years ago, so maybe she gave way after they stopped being friends. Maybe she caved after a while without her family, or any support from anyone around her.

Arizona ran her forefingers along the edge of the cup and smiled at her silliness, why should the fact that she had a guy in her apartment bother her; except it did for some minuscule reason she wasn't quite sure of yet, random thoughts of him and Callie would pop up when she saw her down the hall, so she took Callie's route and decided to be the avoider for once.

"Okay, they're out of bagels; they had these pumpkin scones but I know you hate those so I got these buttery things" Teddy placed the treats down on the table gently and sat opposite her breaking her stream of bothersome thoughts, "where's your mind at?"

"How badly tonight is going to go?" Arizona retorted, leaned in and grabbed one of the treats off the plate

"Why? I thought you loved date night?" Teddy's face scrunched up trying to wonder when Arizona got replaced, maybe it was when she was sniffing the muffins or when she was checking out the male hot stranger at the booth across from them

"I do, but you invited Callie; it's going to be a little weird" Arizona said, gesticulating to get her seriousness across

"Because of Callie?—Heather invited her and secondly; I thought you two were at that eye humping phase" Teddy giggled. "You're not a very subtle starer"

"We're not doing any of that" she paused for a while. "Whatever that might be" she took a bite from her pastry and wiped her mouth, "she's straight"

"So?" Teddy answered nonchalantly with a shrug, "A lot of people are straight now, it's the new thing" she joked

Arizona smiled and rolled her eyes, "I mean…I feel weird that she's straight, am I making any sense?" she asked Teddy hoping some shred of her words would make some sense

"No not really, I can't see why that would be of any bother to you, remember Heather?" Teddy said plainly like she hadn't just suggested that Arizona was forgetting the vital part of her life

"What's that suppose to mean? Me and Callie?—that's nothing" Arizona replied defensively

"Are you sure about that? I mean I like Callie and all but ever since she came back you have been weird" she leaned further into the booth table, leaning towards Arizona."I know her presence has opened a can of worms but you have moved on right?" she asked

"Teddy this is nothing, I have moved on—there's nothing between us" she shrugged, "I'm being friendly, she was my best friend you know?"

"Good, cause I like Heather and I like Callie, and I really don't want any drama that ruins something good. And you better mean that Arizona" the skinny blonde said finally smiling at Arizona who just plastered a smile in return

She walked down those halls avoiding Callie cause of a man she saw in her apartment, and during their M&M when the lights had dimmed down low she had her eyes fixed on Callie in the crowd of doctors in the room, she had her mind twisted around this brunette; she could hear her heart beating through the walls, she could feel her breath when they hug, she could hear her voice, there was no more resistance, she wanted to hold her near. The thoughts felt more like her enemy; they were her fears, she wasn't the type to think about another woman when she had her own, but this felt like the end to her and she could lie and deny it but these thoughts that she had for this woman were trouble. Somehow their innocent banters and jokes had sparked up a flare that had burnt down the boundaries and let the feelings cut through like swords.

It felt like hell knowing that she couldn't stop the feeling, the tables had turned and she was sitting in the same spot in that diner 8 years ago and telling Callie how she felt, her decisions with Heather had started feeling hazy and she didn't even think that the feelings were mutual, what if this was pure friendship to Callie. She stared right at Teddy who was watching her process everything she was thinking.

"You love Heather" Teddy said staring right at Arizona, "right?"

"Yes, why would that change?" Arizona replied yet with another fake smile

"Nothing, just checking to see if you're still there" she smiled and signaled for the service waiter in the café, "ready?"

They got up and took a walk left of the diner back towards the hospital, Arizona had her free day but she loved her work more than she loved sitting and flipping through channels watching Oprah give things away on TV, or going through piles of laundry so she would rather have her hands deep in a body cavity fixing something.

She walked straight down the halls looking out for that brown eyed, brunette that had her mind foggy, she ran into Alex who looked like she had the world on his shoulder.

"Oh, thank God you're here Robbins; we have some minor cases but I need help here, take your pick" he shoved a couple charts into her arms and started attending to other patients in the room

"Says this kid has a crushed femur from a bike mishap, why isn't he emergent?" flipping through files and trying to find the crying, in pain 9 year old in the ER

"He just came in, paged Ortho and she should he here in a bit" Alex said

"Okay that's good…wait, you paged what?" she snapped her head up at the grumpy guy who was jumping from one wounded kid to another

"Protocol states; hurt kid with injuries related to bones, page Ortho and that's what I did, are you here to help or what?" she wasn't ready to see Callie not right then at all, "Oh there she is" Alex said pointing right past Arizona's shoulder, and then she heard her voice

"You paged?" Callie said as she stepped into the open ER space

Arizona clenched her jaw at Karev who just shrugged and walked off, "Robbins has your case" he said and breezed past the brunette to page the cardio attending for another incoming case

"Hey, you're the other attending on the case then?" Arizona nodded with a dimpled smile, handed the chart over to her and tucked her hands deep into her white coat

Callie walked over to the kid in obvious discomfort with Arizona close behind, the little blonde, grey eyed boy with tear stained face tossing in pain on the gurney; Callie put her hand softly on his head, stroking his hair gently, "okay Erin this lovely nice doctor and I are going to make the pain go away, okay?" she got a little nod from the boy

Arizona smiled at how she was with the kid, "CT to tell how broken the leg is and I will book an OR"

Callie merely looked up she was smiling at the boy in pain trying to keep him as calm as possible knowing how much pain he was in and due to his age morphine wasn't the brightest idea, "okay"

They sat in the CT room waiting for his scans to come up on the screen; Arizona had her eyes on her it was like the room had gone hazy—she felt the urge to connect the surge and let nature take its course, she could feel Callie's eyes on her skin from the side glares splitting through her hard resolve, mixing up her thoughts, she could feel her insides burning for someone that wasn't even hers, if this was a message she needed a sign from Callie, she wanted Callie to feel her body yearning. But this feeling was a little too close to the past; they had been down this road before only they were playing different roles. She couldn't go through what Callie went through if she got turned down, Friends it is.

"Am I crazy or have things been a little weird between us?" Callie said staring at the screen; she tried to maintain the casual mood in the room

"You're crazy" Arizona said with a smile

"Are you sure? Cause I could have sworn that you ducked into the mop closet when you saw me coming down the hall yesterday" she said facing Arizona straight on, her eyes trained intently on her

"I was looking for supplies" Arizona went with the only lie she could think of in that moment

"In the mop closet?—is this about tonight? You know if you don't want me there I can cancel" she said. "If that makes anything weird"

"Are you kidding?—why would you do that, it has nothing to do with tonight just different surgeries have kept us chained to our departments" she said plainly like she didn't have words knocking on her skull to come out

"So everything is okay and the mop closet thing was a coincidence?" the brunette asked

Arizona stared back into those brown eyes and didn't feel the need to lie but was she ready to tear down everything she had built for years for that moment? Daniel Robbins would fly to Seattle and give her a long speech if he heard his daughter was dishonest, unfaithful to her one year girlfriend, "total coincidence, scans are up" she pointed to the appearing image

"Oh, his right leg is worse than I thought; might have to do a double casting so both can heal well" she said scribbling everything down in his chart

"Good luck keeping him pain free for the next 30 minutes when Owen's OR frees up" Arizona said which got a very corny glare from the brunette, she rose to her feet and stretched out her hand for Arizona

"Come on" she said, hand still proffered forward for her to take. "I want you to help me with that" she took Callie's hand in hers and let the brunette lead her down the halls to the little boy's room, "hey Erin this is Dr. Robbins she's going to help you feel better"

Arizona looked up still wondering what Callie had in mind, she explained to his parents with my a minor numbing injection, similar to an epidural, Erin has his little tear stained eyes trained on Callie and the syringe she was holding, "Erin sweetie, this is doctor Robbins" his eyes never leaving the syringe, fear broke across his little face, "she's one of the best doctors in the hospital, some would say the whole world—cause she has this super magic smile she uses to make everyone feel better"

Arizona shot Callie a questioning stare, she just got a smile back in return, "what are you doing?" she whispered lightly

"People feel better after she flashes them that super magic smile, it's like sun after a rainy day, and people automatically feel fine— you can't see it cause you have your back turned to her but she is giving you that super magic smile right now, ain't that right doctor Robbins?" she smiled at Arizona who had been staring at her with the most genuine emotion in her eyes, the thoughts she had for this woman weren't a joke, her resistance for them were growing weaker.

"That's right Erin" the little boy turned over to stare at Arizona's dimpled smile, that wonderful smile that was hard to resist, she was stroking his blonde hair softly with care pouring out of her eyes for the tiny human in pain while Callie used that time to stick the needle in and administer the dose he needed to feel better, the effects started to course through and the little boy smiled back and with his little voice he said.

"It works" he smiled at Arizona, she wiped his tears. Callie stood back and watched her smile at the boy

The nurse walked into the room, "OR is ready, we have to prep him" they grabbed the gurney and started wheeling him off.

Callie walked up to Arizona where she stood watching the gurney disappear down the halls into the elevator "You'd be a good mom" Callie whispered to Arizona, who was staring at the boy being wheeled off

"That? I was keeping him at ease, that was nothing—he was obviously scared and I had to soothe him somehow" Arizona said defensively with the wild hopes that it was enough to get the Latina off her for that little show of likeness to children

"Right!" Callie said with a sardonic expression on her face and smile teasing Arizona of what she had just seen

"Shut up!" Arizona said playfully, "we have a surgery"

#####

"So you're saying the cute, blue eyed hottie that shut down your sexual advances…" Callie interrupted sharply with a correction

"Emotional advances, it was love not physical—well, not entirely anyway" Callie said with a dirty smile that elicited a chuckle from the bigger man laying on the other side of her bed facing the ceiling, propped against her pillow

"Okay, the blonde that shut down your emotional advances and her girlfriend invited you for drinks and you said yes?—in what universe is that not weird?" he asked facing the brunette laying right next to him

"If I was still hung up on her I guess, but I am not again—I'm not sure I want to ruin whatever it is we both have going" Callie clarified like it was a statement she had been asked to repeat over again, but her herself wasn't too sure she believed

"You have to consider if the mess it will cause it worth the aftermath effect, so don't be stupid" he said his face back to the ceiling with a smile

"You have been here for 5 days and you haven't called Lexie, is she okay that you're gone this long with your wedding coming up?" Callie asked; she hadn't seen her best friend call his fiancée since his arrival in Seattle and that was surprising for the twosome that called each other every moment just to be sure the other has had lunch.

"Uhmm we have…talked, you were sleeping when we talked" he hopped off the bed and walked to the door, "need to meet the people taking about getting those paintings, call me later?" and he walked out of the room, grabbed his jacket in the living room and he was slamming the door like he was rushing away from that conversation.

Callie stared at the Mark shaped hole on her door from how fast he fled from that conversation, she had to get ready for her awkward night with Arizona and her over-protective girlfriend, she had fun working with Arizona that day and she couldn't deny that she stole a couple stares of her face when she wasn't looking—maybe Heather had something to be protective of? No she didn't, her and Arizona would be a mistake moving further than they were.

She walked into Joe's clad in her casual ready to get drunk outfit, both flattering and free for a night of untainted fun. She looked over and saw the table was fairly full with Arizona and Heather's friends; she was familiar with Teddy and Arizona but the others were pretty much strangers to her but she approached the table with ample charm and warm welcoming gestures. Arizona looked up from her drink and casted her eyes on the object of her attraction, tanned flesh from her forearm to her toned broad shoulders, side to her décolletage and down to her cleavage, her hand extending over the table to shake the people around the table making Arizona very uneasy.

Callie sat down right across Arizona and Heather, right next to Teddy and the random red head that was likely Heather's colleague from her firm, she flashed Arizona a smile and the same to Teddy, Heather merely acknowledged her presence; she was busy talking Arizona's ear off about her deposition the morning of that day,

"Joel A. Rosenthal? I know that from anywhere, it's amazing" she took a whiff of Callie once again and this time leaned in closer, "definitely, you smell amazing" the red head said taking Callie's hand in hers for another shake

"That's remarkable, you know your fragrance" Callie smiled, their little flirting didn't go around the table unnoticed; Teddy offered a smile to their chat while the side stares from Heather and the austere eye rolls from Arizona made itself obvious, her scoffs were loud enough even over the clanking glasses and booming jukebox

"Only on a selected few" the red head said, "need a drink?" she looked towards the bar urging Callie a walk to the bar with her, Callie looked at her outfit and figured it would be a huge waste if she didn't flirt a little in her skin tight pants and lovely top, she was gorgeous, waxed and had a clean top on; for an attending that worked all day, it would be a colossal waste not to let the outfit get her laid, she stood from the table and walked away with the red head to the bar.

Teddy giggled softly, "Looks like they hit it off", Arizona looked at the bar with a frown, staring right at the brunette she wanted to have her arms wrapped around with another red head sharing a laugh that seemed to echo all over the bar, Callie did happen to have a distinctive laugh

"Looks like they did, isn't that incredible babe?" Heather looked to Arizona who had her eyes stapled to the two at the bar; she felt a gentle nudge from her girlfriend. "Where's your head?" Arizona shook her head and focused her eyes back to the table

"What did you say?" Teddy simply rolled her eyes at Arizona's not too subtle crush on Callie; Heather was choosing to stay oblivious because she had more to lose than Arizona, so her insecurities had to stay at bay if she wanted to keep her girlfriend.

Every time she heard a laugh from behind that sounded like Callie, she clenched her jaw, and tried to push the possibility that, _**that**_ red head was telling Callie actual jokes, she was sure Callie was laughing to be polite. An hour had passed and Callie and Hanna had joined them at the table later but they were sharing flushed stares and flirty subliminal sexual jokes that just made the table laugh when understood, but Arizona found everything rather annoying.

The innuendos from the two of them was almost palpable, Callie could sense the uneasy vibe flowing from her friend just around the time the table got lively, after a couple shots of tequila Callie and Heather were just about ready to braid each other's hair, hold hands and sing kumbaya down the shoreline, but Arizona wasn't the most sociable around the table; she would look at both of them flirting and grimace when their bodies graze each other, when their hands brush against each other or when a stare lasts a little longer than normal. Teddy was half in the bottle and everything was funny.

"Be right back" Arizona said, she walked right past the bar counter, to the door at the far edge of the crowded open space, she entered the bathroom and leaned heavy on the sink, she stared at her reflection in the mirror for some hope of resonance, she had seen it in movies; that moment seemed to snap some sense back into the person but she was staring and saw a scared blonde. She heard the door close behind her

"Are you okay?" Callie said from behind her, it was a fairly empty bathroom; she wasn't too sure the stalls were empty but if they weren't the occupant was rather quiet

"I'm fine" she walked past Callie and reached for the door, but she wanted to say something, she just wanted to say anything but did she have the right?

Callie had her back turned to an emotionally beaten down Arizona, Arizona had thought about this moment for weeks, she even had that sensual dream that had her mind in loops for the entire day, an attraction so real she couldn't bear to see Callie share giggles and smiles with someone she had nothing in common with, Callie smiled at her, her jokes, her compliments. She was standing in between trouble and redemption, she could walk out that door back to the bar and let Callie just think she had way too much to drink and guilt free, or she could show Callie just how she felt; she had never felt this kind of inner struggle before and she honestly didn't know which one felt right the most, but this woman was trouble and whether she liked it or not she was caught in that web of uncontrollable desire. This wasn't just plain and simple lust for the moment, if it was it wouldn't hurt this much not to able to hold Callie, feel her, breathe her in or press her lips against her caramel soft skin. Arizona had never felt this before even with Heather which means she was right Callie was her fears, this was sincere—this is raw passion, she couldn't stop the feeling even if she tried, like trying to stop a freight train with a thread.

Arizona looked back and forth trying to avoid the nosy crowd or anything that would make this impending decision a little harder for Arizona to do, she scanned the crowd and saw that everyone had their attention pressed on everything else; she shut the door to the dirty bar bathroom causing the Latina to turn around holding paper towels in her hands, "Hanna seems nice right?"

"Yeah, she's really nice and cute too" Arizona murmured a negative reply to the compliment at the random red head waiting for Callie at the bar, "is it me? I know you said it was okay to come tonight but you just seem weird" Callie finished

"Nothing, it's just good to see you having fun with everyone you can find" Callie startled by the statement, scrunched up her face in confusion as to where that would come from

"What's the supposed to mean?" she asked the obviously frustrated blonde, she was jealous of the fact that Callie had a half naked man in her apartment, and now flirting with a woman but she didn't know where to dump those stray unwanted feelings, all she could do was act out and Callie was the closest target

"I mean there's 'board shorts' and there's Hanna, you're really having your fun in Seattle" Arizona said with a fake chuckle, she was trying to feign some level of lack of concern but it was written all over her that she cared

"First of all; boards short is my best friend and he's engaged, and secondly; Hanna is your girlfriend's friend, that's not going anywhere she's friendly and I'm friendly back because I'm not working, I'm not chained to an OR table, tonight I'm not saving anyone—I am allowed to drink and flirt with random strangers, is that your problem?" Callie snapped back at her faster than Arizona imagined

She found it hard to make up a reply because everything she had thought she knew for sure was false, she had Callie and went overboard with thoughts; she had become the passive aggressive one and this wasn't even a relationship so why did she have so much issue with everything, "I think we've both had too much to drink"

"Couldn't agree more" Callie walked out of the bathroom leaving Arizona alone to gather her thoughts

Arizona ran her hands over face, she had lost grasp of her feeling around Callie and that was nowhere near appropriate, she was back to staring at her own reflection, only this time this one was more regretful than frustrated, was this what Callie felt 8 years ago or has the feeling heightened over time cause they have aged.

She walked out of the bathroom to see the table still laughing minus a brunette, and a stunning lack of red head as well. Arizona's chest dropped to her stomach but all she could do was smile, Callie had her own life to live and she was in no way allowed to tell her what to do with her free time or who to spend it with.

"Hey babe, your friend left with my friend—isn't that just cute?" Heather said laughing at her own match making skills

"Yeah, buckets of sunshine type of cute—I have to go back to the hospital Karev needs my help" Arizona said gathering her jacket and purse and already making steps towards the bar exit

"Wait, I thought you said you had today off? You practically worked all day and night too?" Heather asked suspiciously

"I'm the head of my department babe, they can't breathe without me for too long" she said with a dimpled smile

"I'll come with you, I need to insert my banana bag" Teddy paused for a second to recognize the looks on their faces, "okay, sounds vaguely dirty but she knows what I mean" she pointed to Arizona who just nodded patently

They walked outside and started making their steps across the breezy Seattle streets to the hospital, Arizona kept her eyes on Teddy who was strangely upright for someone who had taken enough alcohol to power a frat house party; she could tell Teddy had something to say, "Let it out Teddy"

"Just go, we both know you're not going to the hospital, and Karev is handling it" Teddy said bluntly, her hands tucked in the front pocket of her jacket, "that's why you were being a jerk all night"

"You're not going to say anything to Heather?" Arizona asked

"As long as you don't do anything stupid, just please don't—figure whatever this is out without making a mess, please" Teddy said and made her way down the hospital lane

_**_are you home? I think I have an apology due_ Arizona**_

The swoosh sound echoed in her head, she was holding her breath for a reply because if there was no reply then she was busy with Hanna and that was a reality Arizona didn't want to imagine for that night at all.

_**_bring a little less of the person from the bar, in fact can you leave her at the bar? _ **_Callie replied

Arizona smiled and made her way over.

Callie called Mark a couple times but he said he would be spending the night with some people about the purchase of some art, Callie was a doctor that wasn't her area of concentration so she needed to let him work, she poured herself a glass of water and heard the long awaited knock, she twisted the knob and opened the door to a grinning blonde holding up a box of pizza.

"Peace offering" she said, "figured I wouldn't come empty handed, it would make me look cheap" she quipped with a smile

"Feeling better?" Callie asked as she walked back to the kitchen counter guzzling down the water

"You drank a lot you need some food in your stomach before it irritates your stomach walls, and I'm sorry I was just having a bad night" Arizona proclaimed

"I'm not your punching bag Robbins, when you want to go off like that you can tell me—I'm always here to hear your rants, which used to be my thing remember?" Callie smiled at her, picked up a piece of pizza and took a bite

How was she supposed to tell her what was bothering her when she was the object of her quirked thoughts, and weird behavior, she decided it was more fitted to change the subject Arizona saw her scrabble board on the edge of the kitchen counter, "I bet I can still kick your ass in that"

"You could never kick my ass, we always ended it when you put down words like boob and mount" Callie jested picking up the board and the bag of alphabet tiles

"Hey, you never said it wasn't dirty scrabble" Arizona replied with a serious look that made Callie giggle

"This could take all night with my over the years vast knowledge of dirty words" Callie said setting up the board in the middle of the marble counter top

"I'm feeling challenged" Arizona picked her words and smiled placing her first word down, while Callie casted her eyes to the clock on her wall

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" she said

"I think I'm sleeping at the hospital tonight, was meant to be on-call but Karev is handling it" she said placing the tiles slowly

"You could crash here then, there's more than enough space" Callie shrugged off the statement like it was no big deal

"Oh seriously? That's not a very comfortable couch you have there" Arizona looked to the fawn couch and tilted her head thinking how she would last on the sofa overnight

"Who said anything about the couch?—we shared a bed in college what's the difference now?" Callie said rearranging her tiles on the rack while she looked at the words contemplatively looking for her perfect word

_**Uhmm I freaking love you right now, that's what is different **_Arizona smiled at the words she thought as a reply, "Great, just like our sleep-over days"

"Please tell me you don't still spoon in your sleep" Callie said staring right at Arizona

She busted into laughter covering her mouth for modesty sake, "Gosh Torres that was one time, happened once" Arizona said looking at the word Callie put down and another fits of laughter tore through the kitchen, "you put down 'screw'?... dirty scrabble is on"

They both laughed while sharing a box of pizza, occasionally Arizona they would share a lingering stare and Arizona could feel her eyes kissing through the meadow messing up her thoughts once again, she wanted to taste those wine stained lips, hold that tanned soft skin against hers, feel Callie's hands grab her and hold her but for now she could sit across her and play dirty scrabble. It was steady steps. Hours of laughing at each other's corny words Arizona vacated the room to freshen up and get some sleep while Callie packed up the counter to clean things up when she received a text from Lexie.

_**_Hey, you are my last resort but I just have to ask if you have heard from Mark. I'm getting scared and worried, he's been gone for 3weeks and I'm freaking out. Figured you might be busy would have called_ Lexie **_

"Oh Mark Sloan what have you done?" Callie murmured under breath.

####

Okay I know you all hate and wanted Heather gone but her story extends further than this and I can take her away just yet, tried to explain Arizona's feelings in detail as much as I could with the flu hope that makes you understand her deep attraction :)


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